INFANT    BAPTISM 


PART  AND  PILLAR  OF  POPERY 


BY  JOHN^GILL,   D. D. 


REVISED  AND  EDITED 

BY  GEORGE  B.  IDE,  D.  D. 


WITH  AN  ADDITIONAL  CHAPTER  BY  THE  EDITOR. 


^'jjilahlpljiii. 

AMERICAN  BAPTIST  PUBLICATION  SOCIETY, 

11  >  ARCH  STREET. 

185  1. 


5^5 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1851,  by  the 

AMERICAN  BAPTIST  PUBLICATION  SOCIETY, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States,  in 
and  for  the  Eastern  District  of  Pennsylvania. 


PHILADELPHIA  : 
STEREOTYPED  BY  GEORGE  CHARLES, 
PRINTED    BY    KING    &    BilRD. 


CONTEXTS. 


CHAPTER  I.  page 

Introductory 13 

CHAPTER  II. 
Relation  of  Infant  Baptism  to  Pofert 17 

CHAPTER  III. 
Relation  of  Infant  Baptism  to  Church  Estab- 
lishments       55 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Influence  of  Infant  Baptism  on   Protestant 
Churches  Historically  developed G3 

CHAPTER  V. 

Certain  Extinction  of  Infant  Baptism 110 


(3) 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2011  with  funding  from 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Library 


http://www.archive.org/details/infantbaptismparOO 


INTRODUCTION. 


Every  thoughtful  observer  must  be  aware,  that 
the  present  aspects  of  Romanism  are  as  peculiar  as 
they  are  portentous.  While,  as  a  political  power, 
it  is  rapidly  declining ;  while  its  presence  is  endured 
with  reluctance  even  in  Italy  itself:  the  ascend- 
ency of  its  dogmas  and  ceremonies,  and  their  hold 
on  the  minds  of  men,  seem  to  be  strangely  increas- 
ing. Withered  and  decrepid  as  a  State,  as  an 
Ecclesiastical  System  it  appears  imbued  with  a 
singular  and  fearful  vitality.  Especially  is  this 
the  case  in  Protestant  lands.  The  dark  shadow 
of  its  superstitions  is  seen  returning  over  nations, 
from  which  it  was  once  thought  to  have  been  ban- 
ished forever.  In  England,  in  Scotland,  on  the 
Continent  of  Europe,  in  our  own  free  and  enlight- 
ened America,  Popery  is  extending  its  influence, 
and  multiplying  its  triumphs.  Its  cardinals  and 
bishops  tread  again  the  soil  from  which  the  Kefor- 

Co) 


G  INTRODUCTION". 

mation  expelled  them.     Its  schools,  and  churches/ 

and  convents,  rise  in  every  city  and  village.  Its 
gaudy  processions  and  impious  mummeries  are  en- 
acted, without  rebuke,  in  the  face  of  heaven.  It 
boasts  its  converts  gathered  from  every  class  and- 
condition,  and  exultingly  points  to  the  long  array 
of  "  the  reconciled. "  And  while  it  is  thus  enlarg- 
ing its  numbers  by  direct  accessions,  it  is  viewed 
with  growing  favor  hj  multitudes  not  of  its  pale. 
Infidels  patronize  it.  Politicians  fawn  upon  it. 
The  gay  and  the  voluptuous  give  it  their  suffrage. 
Mystics,  enthusiasts,  formalists,  worldlings,  all 
unite  to  countenance  its  pretensions,  or,  at  least, 
to  affirm  its  harmlessness.  Even  the  professed 
churches  of  Christ  oppose  to  it  but  a  feeble  barrier. 
The  more  corrupt  fraternize  with  its  spirit,  ape  its 
forms,  and  appropriate  all  of  it  but  its  name ; 
while  the  great  mass  of  the  more  pure,  however 
disposed  to  resist  its  encroachments,  seem  well  nigh 
powerless  to  do  so. 

How  is  this  phenomenon  to  be  explained?  In 
what  manner  may  we  account  for  the  startling  fact, 
that  amid  the  blaze  of  science,  the  spread  of  educa- 
tion, the  wide  diffusion  of  intelligence,  the  awakened 


INTRODUCTION.  7 

spirit  of  inquiry  and  of  progress — in  lands  blessed 
with  an  open  Bible,  a  free  Gospel,  and  all  the  ap- 
pliances of  religious  instruction — an  old,  tottering 
Hierarchy,  foul  with  pollution,  laden  with  abhorred 
memories,  and  reeking  with  the  blood  of  murdered 
saints,  should  come  forth  from  the  gloom  of  the 
dark  Past,  and  flaunting  its  tattered  traditions  in 
the  eyes  of  the  nineteenth  century,  be  welcomed  and 
embraced  ?  Must  there  not  be  some  latent  defect — 
some  insidious  weakness  in  the  very  heart  of  Pro- 
testantism itself,  to  render  possible  such  a  result  ? 
We  firmly  believe  that  there  is.  And  we  are 
equally  confident  that  we  know  what  it  is.  The 
churches,  which  abjured  Popery  at  the  Reforma- 
tion, have  retained,  in  the  practice  of  infant  bap- 
tism, the  most  vital  element  of  Popery ;  the  prolific 
germ  out  of  which  it  grew;  the  secret  principle 
which  has  engendered  all  its  baleful  fruits,  and 
which  is  ever  tending  to  reproduce  them.  The 
essence  of  Popery  lies  in  the  assumption,  that 
sacraments  possess  an  intrinsic  power  to  confer 
grace;  and  that,  consequently,  those  who  admin- 
ister them  are  constituted  channels  of  intercourse 
and  mediation  between  God  and  the  souls  of  men. 


b  INTRODUCTION. 

All  the  absurdities  and  abominations  with  which 
Romanism  is  characterized,  are  but  developments  of 
this  central  dogma;  offshoots  from  this  one  poisonous 
root.  But  this  also  is  the  very  core  and  substance 
of  infant  baptism.  If  its  upholders  do  not  regard " 
it  as  the  merest  nullity — a  rite  as  vapid  and  mean- 
ingless as  it  is  unscriptural — they  must  ascribe  to 
it  some  mysterious  efficacy )  some  hidden  and 
magical  power ;  by  which  it  influences  the  spiri- 
tual state  of  its  recipients,  and  brings  them  under 
moral  relations  different  from  those  of  others.  Ac- 
cordingly, we  find  that  wherever  it  is  left  to  unfold 
itself  freely — wherever  it  is  not  shorn  of  its  natural 
proportions  and  accompaniments  by  contact  with 
the  advocates  of  primitive  truth  and  order, — it  al- 
ways appears  in  connection  with  baptismal  regener- 
ation, infant  church-membership,  and  sacramental 
holiness.     And  this  is  Popery. 

Here,  then,  is  the  rottenness  of  Protestantism. 
Here  is  the  weak  point  in  her  defences,  which  lays 
her  open  to  the  inroad  of  the  foe.  Here  is  the 
wily  agent  of  the  Papacy  within  her  very  intrench- 
ments,  paralyzing  her  strength,  turning  her  weapons 
against  herself,  seducing  her  soldiers,  and  leading 


INTRODUCTION.  V 

theni  off  to  swell  the  hostile  ranks.  Never  can  she 
prosper  in  the  struggle,  till  this  dangerous  inmate 
be  unmasked  and  thrust  out.  As  well  may  the 
stream  be  dried  up,  while  the  spring-head  flows ; 
as  well  may  pestilence  cease,  while  malaria  con- 
tinues to  breathe  its  infection — as  Popery  die, 
while  infant  baptism  lives.. 

In  this  state  of  the  moral  conflict  which  is  going 
on  in  our  own  and  in  other  lands,  it  has  appeared 
to  the  Committee  of  the  American  Baptist  Publica- 
tion Society,  that  a  reprint  of  the  celebrated  tract 
of  Dr.  Grill,  entitled,  "In/ant  Baptism  a  part  and 
pillar  of  Popery"  might  be  eminently  seasonable 
and  useful.  Its  author  lived  in  an  age  resembling, 
in  some  of  its  aspects,  that  in  which  our  lot  is  cast. 
A  national  Church,  joined  in  unholy  wedlock  with 
the  State,  and  Dissent,  forswearing  her  troth  to 
Christ  by  marrying  herself  with  Tradition,  had  be- 
gun to  bring  forth  their  natural  progeny;  and 
Popery  grew  apace.  The  English  government  be- 
came alarmed.  The  partisans  of  the  Establish- 
ment trembled.  All  sects  and  orders  were  filled 
with  dismay,  and  united  in  the  general  demand, 
that  more  stringent  penalties  should  be  enacted 


10  INTRODUCTION. 

against  the  ingress  of  Popish  emissaries,  and  the 
propagation  of  Popish  tenets.  At  this  juncture, 
Dr.  Gill,  surveying  the  crisis  with  his  clear  eye, 
and  fathoming  its  causes  with  his  keen  and  deep- 
searching  logic,  lifted  up  his  warning  voice,  and  * 
showed  conclusively,  that  the  source  of  the  evil 
did  not  lie  in  any  freedom  granted  to  Romanists, 
but  in  infant  baptism  itself,  which,  nestled  in  the 
bosom  of  Protestantism,  had  diffused  a  Papal 
leaven  through  its  entire  body. 

It  seemed  to  the  Committee,  that  a  production 
so  influential  in  its  own  time,  and  so  suited  to  the 
present,  deserved  something  better,  than  to  be 
swept  away  on  the  stream  of  the  past,  or  to  be 
searched  out  with  difficulty  in  the  scarce  and  dear 
volumes  of  the  author's  miscellaneous  works.  They, 
therefore,  resolved  to  revise  and  publish  it ;  and 
appointed  the  writer  of  this  notice  to  carry  out  their 
decision. 

On  examination,  however,  it  was  found  that  while 
the  reasoning  of  the  treatise  was  cogent,  and  its 
thoughts  massive  and  powerful,  its  style  was  such 
as  greatly  to  unfit  it  for  general  circulation.  Dr. 
Gill,  with  all  his  immense  learning,  was  remark- 


INTRODUCTION.  11 

able  for  his  involved  and  slovenly  mode  of  writing, 
even  in  an  age  when  less  heed  was  given  than  now 
to  the  graces  of  composition.  The  editor  was, 
therefore,  instructed  by  the  Committee  to  make 
such  changes  in  the  literary  execution  of  the  work 
as  might,  in  his  judgment,  adapt  it  to  modern  taste, 
and  prepare  it  for  more  extensive  usefulness.  This, 
the  reader  is  frankly  apprised,  has  been  done. 
While  every  thought  and  argument  of  the  author 
has  been  scrupulously  retained,  and  in  the  connec- 
tion in  which  he  placed  them,  the  language  is  al- 
most wholly  new.  The  book  has,  in  fact,  been 
entirely  rewritten  ;  and,  in  some  cases,  a  fuller  de- 
velopment has  been  given  of  topics  deemed  too 
briefly  stated.  Tbe  editor  has  also  verified  the 
authorities  cited ;  added  new  ones ;  and  inserted 
references  to  later  editions  where  they  exist.  In 
a  word,  he  has  taken  down  "  the  sword  of  Goliath" 
from  "  behind  the  ephod,"*  where  it  hung  neglected 
— has  stripped  off  its  mouldy  covering,  wiped  away 
its  rust,  polished  its  surface,  and  done  his  best  to 
furbish  it  for  the  battle.  It  is  true,  he  might  with 
less  time  and  labor  have  made  a  new  sword.  But 
*  1  Sain.  xxi.  9. 


12  INTRODUCTION. 

then  it  could  not  be  said  of  that,  as  it  can  be  of 
this,  "There  is  none  like  it."  May  it  prove 
mighty  for  the  Lord  of  Hosts,  and  for  the  over- 
throw of  tradition  and  error. 

a.  b.  i. 


INFANT  BAPTISM, 

A 

PART  AND  PILLAR  OF  POPERY. 
CHAPTER   I. 

INTRODUCTORY. 

Havixg  been  called  upon  to  maintain  cer- 
tain statements  which,  in  a  recent  publica- 
tion,1 I  advanced  with  respect  to  infant 
baptism,  or  else  to  retract  them,  I  readily 
undertake  the  former;  and  shall,  therefore, 
in  the  ensuing  treatise,  endeavor  to  explain 
myself,  and  to  defend  the  positions  then  taken. 
"With  this  view,  it  will  be  proper  first  to  recite 
the  paragraph  which  has  been  so  strenuously 
assailed.    It  is  as  follows:  "The  Pedobaptists 

1  A  Reply  to  Rev.  Peter  Clark's  Defence  of  Infant 
Baptism. 

2  13 


14  IXFAXT  BAPTISM  A 

arc  ever  restless  and  uneasy,  struggling  to 
sustain,  if  possible,  their  unscriptural  practice 
of  infant  baptism ;  although  it  is  no  other  than 
a  pillar  of  Popery;  a  corruption,  by  which 
Antichrist  has  spread  his  baneful  influence' 
over  many  nations;  which  forms  the  basis  of 
national  churches  and  ecclesiastical  establish- 
ments ;  and  which,  uniting  the  church  and  the 
world,  binds  them  together  so  firmly,  that 
there  can  never  be  a  full  separation  of  the  one 
from  the  other,  nor  any  thorough  reform  in 
religion,  until  it  be  wholly  removed.  But,  al- 
though it  has  so  long  and  so  largely  obtained, 
and  still  does  obtain,  yet  I  believe,  with  a  firm 
and  unshaken  faith,  that  the  time  is  hastening 
on,  when  it  will  no  more  be  practised  in  the 
world ;  when  churches  will  be  formed  on  the 
model  ordained  by  Christ,  and  observed  by  the 
Apostles ;  when  the  doctrines  and  discipline  of 
the  Gospel  will  be  restored  to  their  primitive 
purity  and  lustre;  and  when  the  ordinances 
of  baptism  and  the  Lord's  supper  will  be  ad- 
ministered as  they  were  first  delivered,  clear 
from  all  the  superstitious  admixtures  with 
which  later  times  have  defaced  them.  All 
this,  I   am   persuaded,  will   be  accomplished, 


PART  AND  PILLAR  OF  POPERY.  ID 

when  the  Lord  shall  be  King  over  all  the 
earth,  and  there  shall  be  one  Lord,  and  His 
name  one." 

The  paragraph,  thus  cited,  consists  of  several 
distinct  propositions,  which  I  shall  endeavor, 
in  the  following  chapters,  to  elucidate  and 
establish.  And  if,  in  the  course  of  the  investi- 
gation, any  thing  should  be  said  that  may 
seem  to  savor  of  severity,  let  it  be  remem- 
bered that  all  my  remarks  are  directed  against 
infant  baptism  itself,  and  not  against  the  indi- 
viduals who  practice  it.  For  the  evangelical 
denominations  adhering  to  this  custom,  I 
cherish  the  highest  regard.  I  recognize  them 
as  members  of  the  body  of  Christ,  and  fel- 
low heirs  with  the  saints.  I  rejoice  in  their 
general  advocacy  of  the  doctrines  of  the  Gos- 
pel; in  their  Christian  spirit;  in  their  un- 
wearied labors  to  extend  the  kingdom  of  the 
Redeemer.  But  while  I  love  and  venerate 
them  for  their  man}7  excellencies,  I  do  not  the 
less  deplore  the  one  error  by  which  those  ex- 
cellencies are  sullied.  And  I  deplore  it,  not 
because  it  is  fatal  to  their  piety,  and  will  ulti- 
mately bar  them  out  of  heaven;  but  because, 
however   honestly  held,   it    nevertheless   dis- 


16  INFANT  BAPTISM  A 

honors  the  authority  of  the  Saviour  whom  they 
profess  to  obey,  hinders  the  supremacy  of  His 
laws,  and  counteracts  their  own  efforts  to  pro- 
mote it.  May  "the  Spirit  of  truth"  so  en- 
lighten our  minds,  that  we  shall  all  know  and 
receive  "  the  truth,  the  whole  truth,  and 
nothing  but  the  truth." 


PART  AXD  PILLAB  OP  POPERY.  17 


CHAPTER   II. 

EELATION  OF  IXFAXT  BAPTISM  TO  POPERY. 

My  first  position  is,  that  infant  baptism  is 
a  part  and  pillar  of  Popery;  and  that  by 
means  of  it  Antichrist  has  spread  his  baneful 
influence  over  many  nations. 

The  phrase,  infant  baptism,  is  employed 
here  and  throughout  this  discussion,  in  ac- 
cordance with  common  usage,  although  pro- 
perly speaking,  the  practice  to  which  it  is 
applied,  should  be  designated  infant  sprink- 
ling. 

That  unwritten  traditions  are  regarded  by 
Papists,  as  of  equal  authority  in  faith  and  prac- 
tice with  the  Holy  Scriptures,  none  can  doubt 
who  are  at  all  conversant  with  their  writings. 
The  Council  of  Trent  asserts,  that  "traditions 
respecting  both  faith  and  manners,  orally  de- 
livered, and  successively  preserved  in  the 
Catholic  Church,  are  to  be  received  with  equal 

affection  of  piety  and  reverence,  as  the  Books 
9* 


18  INFANT  BAPTISM  A 

of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments."1  Popish 
writers  even  prefer  tradition  to  Scripture. 
Thus  Bellarmine  says;  "  The  Scriptures,  with- 
out tradition,  are  neither  simply  necessary  nor' 
sufficient ;  but  unwritten  traditions  are  neces- 
sary. Tradition  alone  is  sufficient;  but  the 
Scriptures  alone  are  not  sufficient."2  Another 
of  their  writers  affirms,  that  "  the  authority 
of  ecclesiastical  traditions  is  more  fit  than  the 
Scriptures,  to  ascertain  any  thing  doubtful, 
even  that  which  may  be  made  out  from  Scrip- 
ture ;  since  ecclesiastical  traditions  and  the 
common  opinion  of  the  church  are  clearer,  and 
more  open  and  truly  inflexible ;  while,  on  the 
contrary,  the  Scriptures  have  frequently  much 
obscurity  in  them,  and  may  be  drawn  hither 
and  thither,  like  a  nose  of  wax:  and,  as  a 
leaden  rule,  may  be  applied  to  every  impious 
opinion."3  Bailey,  the  Jesuit,  thus  expresses 
himself.  "  I  will  go  farther  and  say,  that  we 
have  as  much  need  of  tradition  as  of  Scrip- 
ture; yea,  more,  because  the  Scripture  minis- 

1  Session  IV.  Decreta  de  Canone  Scriptorss. 

2  De  Verbo  Dei,  c.  IV.  Sect.  1,  6. 

3  Pighius,  apud  Rivet.  Cathol.  Orthodox,  Tract  I.  Quest. 
C.  p.  99. 


PART  AXD  PILLAR  OF  POPERY.  19 

ters  to  us  only  the  dead  and  mute  letter ;  but 
tradition,  by  means  of  the  ministry  of  the 
church,  gives  us  the  true  sense,  "which  is  not 
had  distinctly  in  the  Scripture.  In  tradition, 
therefore,  consists  the  "Word  of  God  rather 
than  in  the  written  letter  alcne.  It  is  suffi- 
cient for  a  good  Catholic,  if  he  understands  it 
is  tradition ;  nor  need  he  inquire  after  any 
thing  else."1 

By  tradition,  these  Popish  authorities  mean, 
not  tradition  handed  down  in  the  Scripture, 
but  without  it,  and  distinct  from  it ;  unwritten 
tradition,  apostolical  tradition,  so  called  ;  tra- 
dition, not  delivered  by  the  Apostles  in  their 
writings,  but,  as  it  is  pretended,  communicated 
by  word  of  mouth  to  their  successors,  or  to  the 
churches.  That  we  may  not  mistake  them, 
Andradius  tells  us,  that  "  of  necessity,  those 
traditions  also  must  be  believed,  which  can  be 
proved  by  no  testimony  of  Scripture."  And 
Petrus  a  Soto  still  more  plainly  and  openly 
affirms;  "It  is  a  rule  infallible  and  Catholic, 
that  whatsoever  things  the  Church  of  Rome 
believes,  holds,  and  keeps,  which  are  not  de- 

>Apud  Fdvet.  p.  142. 


20  IXFAXT  BAPTISM  A 

livered  in  the  Scriptures,  the  same  came  by 
tradition  from  the  Apostles;  also,  all  such 
observances  and  ceremonies,  whose  beginning, 
author,  and  origin  are  not  known,  or  cannot 
be  found,  were,  beyond  doubt,  delivered  by 
the  Apostles."1  This  is  the  sense  which  Ro- 
manists attach  to  Apostolical  tradition. 

Now,  upon  this  assumed  apostolical  and 
ecclesiastical  tradition,  all  the  essential  pecu- 
liarities of  Popery  are  based.  This  is  the 
prolific  fountain  from  which  they  all  spring. 
This  is  the  standard  to  which  they  are  all 
brought,  and  by  which  they  are  all  confirmed. 
And  what  is  there,  be  it  ever  so  absurd  or 
impious,  that  may  not  be  proved  by  it,  if  once 
it  be  admitted  as  an  authoritative  rule  ?  It 
is  upon  this  ground,  that  Papists  assert  and 
maintain  the  observation  of  Easter  and  Lent ; 
the  adoration  of  images  and  relics ;  the  wor- 
ship of  the  virgin  Mary ;  the  sign  of  the 
cross ;  the  invocation  of  saints ;  the  sacrifice 
of  the  mass  ;  transubstantiation  ;  the  withhold- 
ing of  the  cup  from  the  laity ;  holy  water ;  ex- 

1  See  the  Abstract  of  the  History  of  Popery.    Part  II. 
pp.  252,  253. 


PART  AND  PILLAR  OF  POPERY.  21 

treme  unction  ;  prayers  for  the  dead  ;  auricu- 
lar confession ;  the  sale  of  pardons ;  purga- 
tory ;  pilgrimages ;  monastic  vows  ;  and  other 
superstitious  opinions  and  practices,  more  nu- 
merous than  we  have  space  to  mention. 

Among  pretended  apostolical  traditions,  in- 
fant baptism  is  to  be  reckoned ;  and  here  lies 
the  chief  support  to  which  its  advocates  ap- 
peal. Origen,  who  lived  in  the  former  part 
of  the  third  century,  and  who  was  the  first1 

1  It  has  been  asserted  by  Dr.  Wall  and  others,  that 
Irenceus,  who  wrote  about  A.  D.  178,  was  an  advocate  for 
infant  baptism.  The  passage,  from  which  this  opinion 
has  been  drawn,  is  contained  in  his  Treatise  against  He- 
resies, Book  II.  chap.  22,  sect.  4.  "  Omnes  enim  venit  per 
Bemetipsum  salvare ;  omnes,  inquam,  qui  per  eum  renas- 
cuntur  in  Deum,  infantes  et  parvulos  et  pueros  et  juvenes 
et  seniores.  Ideo  per  omnem  venit  aetatem,  et  infanti- 
bus  infans  factus,  sanctificans  infantes ;  in  parvnlis, 
parvulus,  sanctificans  hanc  ipsam  habentes  aetatem,  si- 
lnul  et  exemplum  illis  pietatis  efiectus  et  justitias  et 
subjectionis ;  in  jixvenibus  juvenis,  exemplum  fiens  et 
sanctificans  Domino.  Deinde  et  usque  ad  mortem  perve- 
nit,  ut  sit  primogenitus  ex  mortuis,  ipse  primatum  tenens 
in  omnibus,  princeps  vitae,  prior  omnium,  et  precedens 
omnes."  "He" — that  is,  Christ — "  came  to  redeem  all  by 
Himself;  all,  I  say,  who  through  him  are  regenerated 
unto  God ;  infants,  little  children,  boys,  young  men,  and 
older  persons.     Hence,  He  passed  through   every  age, 


22  INFANT  BAPTISM  A 

ancient  writer  that  distinctly  approved  of 
infant  baptism,  represents   it   as  a  tradition 

and  for  infants  became  an  infant,  sanctifying  infants : 
among  little  children  He  became  a  little  child,  sanctifying 
those  of  this  age,  and,  at  the  same  time,  presenting  to 
them  an  example  of  piety,  of  uprightness,  and  of  obe- 
dience; among  young  men  He  became  a  young  man, 
that  he  might  set  them  an  example,  and  sanctify  them  to 
the  Lord.  Thus,  He  passed  through  even  unto  death, 
that  lie  might  be  the  first  bom  from  the  dead,  Himself 
holding  the  primacy  in  all  tilings,  the  Prince  of  Life,  su- 
perior to  all,  and  preceding  all." 

It  has  been  argued  that  Irensms  uses  the  expression, 
"regenerated  unto  God,"  as  equivalent  to  baptism;  and 
hence,  that  as  he  employs  the  phrase  in  connection  with 
infants,  there  is  here  a  distinct  recognition  of  infant  bap- 
tism. If  this  were  true,  it  would  follow  that  our  author 
is  incorrect  in  affirming  that  Origen  was  the  first  of  the 
early  fathers  who  approved  infant  baptism,  since  Irenreus 
lived  more  than  half  a  century  before  him.  That  Dr.  Gill, 
however,  was  aware  of  the  existence  of  this  passage,  and 
had  examined  it  well  before  he  made  the  above  statement, 
is  proved  by  his  own  writings.  In  a  treatise  entitled,  "  In- 
fant Baptism  an  Innovation,"  written  previously  to  the 
one  now  reprinted,  he  says:  "I  come  next  to  the 
words  of  Irenceus,  where  he  says,  <  Christ  came  to  save 
all  who  by  Him  are  born  again  unto  God,'  etc.  In  this, 
I  shall  notice  only  the  sense  of  the  phrase,  '  born  again 
unto  God,'  and  the  injury  that  is  done  to  Irenjeus,  in 
making  it  signify  baptism,  or  any  thing  else  but  the 
grace  of  regeneration.    Christ  and  his  Apostles  no  where 


PART  AND  PILLAR   OF  POPERY.  23 

from  the   Apostles.     The  words    ascribed   to 
him  are  these  :   "  For  this" — that  is,  for  ori- 

call  baptism  by  the  name  of  the  new  birth;  and  the 
practice  of  so  terming  it  among  the  ancients  had  not 
obtained  in  the  time  of  Iremens.  The  passage  adduced 
from  Justin  Martyr  does  not  prove  it ;  and  those  cited 
from  Tertullian  and  Clemens  of  Alexandria  are  too  late. 
In  Irenreus  there  are  two  passages  in  which  it  is  pre- 
tended that  this  expression  denotes  baptism.  The  one 
is  where  he  says,  "  Et  iterum  potestatem  regenerations  in 
Deum  dans  discipulis,  dicebat  eis ;  Euntes,  docete  omnes 
gentes,  baptizantes  eos  in  nomine  Patris,  et  Filii,  et  Spiri- 
tus  sancti."  "  And  again,  giving  to  his  disciples  the  power 
of  regeneration  unto  God,  he  said,  "  Go,  teach  all  na- 
tions, baptizing  them  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of 
the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost."  Adv.  Haeres,  L.  III. 
c.  17.  By  this  power  or  commission,  is  meant,  not 
authority  to  baptize,  but  authority  to  teach  the  doctrine 
of  regeneration  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  its  necessity 
to  salvation,  and  in  order  to  baptism.  This  is  the  first 
and  principal  part  of  the  apostolical  commission,  as  the 
order  of  the  words  show ;  and  it  is  most  reasonable  to 
think,  that  he  should  so  call  the  commission,  not  from  its 
more  remote  and  less  principal  part,  but  from  its  first 
and  more  important  one.  The  other  passage  is  where  he 
speaks  of  certain  heretics,  as  having  been  seduced  to  the 
denial  of  "the  baptism  of  regeneration  unto  God."  L.  I. 
c.  21,  1.  But  this  shows  rather,  that  baptism  and  rege- 
neration, though  connected,  are  two  different  things,  the 
former  being  a  symbol  of  the  latter ;  just  as  the  scrip- 
tural phrase,  "the  baptism  of  repentance,"  means  that 


24  INFANT  BAPTISM  A 

ginal  sin — "  the  church  has  received  a  tradi- 
tion from  the  Apostles,  even  to  give  baptism 

baptism  is  something  different  from  repentance  ;  baptism 
being  so  called,  because  repentance  is  a  prerequisite  to 
it.  For  the  same  reason,  it  is  called  the  baptism  of  re- 
generation, because  regeneration  is  absolutely  necessary 
to  it.  To  all  this  I  merely  add,  that  Ireneeus  not  only  uses 
the  word  regeneration  in  a  different  sense  from  baptism 
elsewhere  (see  L.  IV.  c.  59,  and  L.  V.  c.  15) ;  but  in  the 
very  passage  now  in  dispute,  he  most  clearly  uses  it  in  an- 
other sense ;  since  he  says,  "  Christ  came  to  save  all  who  by 
Kim  are  born  again  unto  God ;"  by  Illm,  and  not  by  bap- 
tism. This  is  explained  by  what  is  said  of  His  sanctifying 
all  sorts  of  persons,  infants,  little  ones,  young  men,  and  old 
men ;  which  cannot  be  understood  of  His  baptizing  them ; 
for  He  baptized  none,  and,  therefore,  could  not  be  said  to 
regenerate  any  in  that  sense.  To  consider  Henceus  as 
referring  here  to  baptism,  is  to  make  him  utter  a  gross 
falsehood,  viz.,  that  Christ  came  to  save  such  and  such 
only  as  are  baptized.  Since,  then,  his  words,  without 
straining  them,  are  capable  of  another  sense  agreeable 
to  truth ;  as  that  Christ  came  to  save  all  who  are  regene- 
rated by  His  grace, — are  we  not  bound  to  believe  that  this 
latter  sense  is  his  ?  Indeed,  to  depart  from  this  clear, 
literal  sense  of  his  words,  which  contains  a  well-known 
truth,  and  to  fix  on  them  a  figurative,  improper  one, 
which  makes  him  say  a  monstrous  untruth,  is  most  cruel 
usage  of  the  good  old  father."  Gill's  Tracts,  Vol.  II., 
pp.  389-302.    London,  1773. 

Ireneeus,  in  the  Book  from  which  this   controverted 
passage  is  tak?n,  is  arguing  against  the  Valentinians,  a 


PART  AXD   PILLAR  OF  POPERY.  ZO 

to  infants."1  There  is,  however,  little  reason 
to  regard  the  passage  as  genuine.     A  large 

Gnostic  sect,  who  denied  the  actual  incarnation  of  Christ 
and  asserted  that  His  whole  appearance  on  earth  was  a 
mere  vision.  In  opposition  to  this  destructive  error, 
Irenrcus  affirms,  that  the  divine  nature  of  Christ  entered 
into  real  and  vital  union  with  our  humanity  ;  that  He  was 
truly  man,  living,  breathing,  speaking  amongst  men; 
and  that,  as  the  human  race  had  been  alienated  from 
God  by  the  fall  of  their  first  head,  Adam,  so  Christ,  by 
becoming  their  second  Head,  had  effected  their  restora- 
tion. In  order  to  achieve  this,  He  became  one  of  them ; 
identifying  Himself  with  them  in  all  their  ages  and  con- 
ditions :  comprehending  within  Himself,  as  their  Repre- 
sentative, all  classes ;  teaching  and  exemplifying  the 
truth  to  all ;  and,  by  His  atoning  death,  bringing  all  into 
a  new  relation  to  God — a  state  in  which  mercy  and  grace 
were  possible.  To  prevent  misconception,  however,  the 
qualifying  statement  is  added,  that  none  would  ac- 
tually attain  the  blessing  of  salvation  by  Christ,  but 
those  who  should  be  regenerated  by  Him  unto  God  ;  or 
in  other  words,  who  should  experience  the  transforming 
efficacy  of  His  blood,  applied  by  His  Spirit.  I  am  con- 
strained to  believe,  that  the  simple  and  entire  meaning 
of  Irenseus  is,  that  Christ  came  to  save,  and  would  save, 
all   truly  converted  persons,   of  whatever  age  or  rank; 

1  "Pro  hoc  ecclesia  apostolis  traditionem  suscepit,  eti- 
am  parvulis  baptismum  dare."  Origen,  Comment,  in 
Epistolam  ad  Romanos.  YI.  Tom.  II.  p.  543. 

3 


26  INFANT  BAPTISM  A 

portion  of  the  works  of  Origen  has  perished; 
and  those  that  still  exist,  have,  for  the  most 
part,  come  down  to  us,  not  in  the  original 
Greek,  but  in  a  Latin  translation  by  Rufinus, 
a  writer  of  the  fourth  century,  by  whom  they 
are  known  to  have  been  extensively  interpo- 
lated. So  clearly  has  this  been  ascertained, 
that  no  judicious  critic  will  place  confidence  in 
any  writing  of  Origen,  which  is  to  be  found 
only  in  the  translation  of  Rufinus.1  Augus- 
tine, who  was  a  warm  advocate  for  infant  bap- 
tism, also,  defends  it  as  a  custom  of  the 
church  not  to  be  despised,  and  as  an  apos- 
tolical tradition  generally  received.2  But  as 
he  was  contemporary  with  Rufinus,  he  probably 


and  that,  consequently,  there  is  not  the  slightest  allusion 
to  baptism  in  the  whole  passage. 

For  similar  views,  though  differing  in  some  particulars, 
the  reader  may  consult  two  very  able  articles ;  the  one 
by  Dr.  Sears,  in  the  Second  Part  of  his  Reply  to  Burgess 
on  Baptism,  in  the  Christian  Review,  Vol.  III.  pp.  208- 
213  ;  the  other  by  Dr.  Chase,  in  the  Bibliotheca  Sacra, 
Vol.  VI.  pp.  646-656.— Ed. 

1  See  Lardner,  Works,  Vol.  II.  pp.  482.  497. 

2  "Hoc  ecclesia  a  majorum  fide  percepit."  Serm.  X.  de 
verb,  apost.  c.  2  ;  De  Genesis,  Lib.  X.  c.  21 ;  and  De  Bap- 
tisrao  contr.  Donat.  Lib.  IV.  c.  23.  24. 


PART  AXD   PILLAR  OF  POPERY.  27 

took,  the  hint  of  infant  baptism  being  an  apos- 
tolical tradition  from  the  Latin  translation  of 
Origen  made  by  the  latter ;  since  no  other 
ecclesiastical  writer  previously  speaks  of  it 
in  this  manner.  The  uncertainty  of  any  apos- 
tolical tradition  in  favor  of  infant  baptism 
seems  to  be  conceded  by  Jeremy  Taylor,  when 
he  says.1  "  Xow  a  tradition  apostolical,  if  it  be 
not  consigned  with  a  fuller  testimony  than  of 
one  person,  whom  all  after  ages  have  con- 
demned of  many  errors,  will  obtain  so  little 
reputation  amongst  those  who  know  that  things 
have  upon  greater  authority  pretended  to  de- 
rive from  the  Apostles  and  yet  falsely,  that  it 
will  be  a  great  argument  that  he  is  credulous 
and  weak  that  shall  be  determined  by  so  weak 
probation  in  matters  of  so  great  concern- 
ment."2 Yet  it  is  by  "a  probation "  thus 
"weak,"  that  many  are  "determined"  in  the 

liberty  of  Prophesying.  TTorks.  Vol.  Y.  p.  552. 
Eden's  ed.  London,  1849. 

2  This  quotation  from  Jeremy  Taylor  has  not,  perhaps, 
all  the  force  -which  Dr.  Gill  seems  to  ascribe  to  it.  The 
Bishop,  in  pleading  for  toleration  to  the  Anabaptists,  a3 
he  calls  them,  gives  a  summary  of  the  arguments  ad- 
duced in  favor  of  infant  baptism,  and  then  of  those  which 
•were  urged  against  it.    It  is  in  the  latter  connection,  that 


28  INFANT  BAPTISM  A 

matter  of  infant  baptism ;  for  not  only  do 
Popish  writers,  as  Bellarmine  and  others, 
make  it  an  unwritten,  apostolical  tradition,  but 
even  some  Protestant  Pedobaptists  show  a 
good  will  to  place  it  among  the  unwritten  say- 
ings of  Christ,  or  of  his  Apostles  ;  and  satisfy 
themselves  with  a  supposition  so  gratuitous. 
Thus  Mr.  Fuller,  a  late  Pedobaptist  writer, 
says,  "  We  do  freely  confess  that  there  is 
neither  express  precept  nor  precedent  in  the 
New  Testament  for  the  baptizing  of  infants  ; 
yet,  as  St.  John  tells  us,  that  Jesus  did  many 
things  which  were  not  written,1  for  aught  that 

the  passage  referred  to  occurs.  He  states  it,  therefore, 
as  the  opinion  of  the  opponents  of  infant  baptism,  not 
as  his  own.  A  much  more  satisfactory  admission  on  the 
same  point  is  afforded  by  Neander,  in  his  Church  His- 
tory, Yol.  I.  p.  314,  Torrey's  Translation.  "  Origen,  in 
■whose  system,  infant  baptism  could  readily  find  its  place, 
declares  it  to  be  an  apostolical  tradition ;  an  expression, 
by  the  way,  which  cannot  be  regarded  as  of  much  weight 
in  this  age,  when  the  inclination  was  so  strong  to  trace 
every  institution,  which  was  considered -of  special  im- 
portance, to  the  Apostles ;  and  when  so  many  walls  of 
separation,  hindering  the  freedom  of  prospect,  had  al- 
ready been  set  up  between  this  and  the  apostolic 
age. — Ed. 

1  John  xii.  25. 


PART  AND   PILLAR  OF  POPERY.  29 

appears  to  the  contrary,  infant  baptism  may 
have  been  one  of  them."1  In  like  manner', 
Mr.  Walker  argues,  "  It  does  not  follow  that 
our  Saviour  gave  no  precept  for  the  baptizing 
of  infants,  because  no  such  precept  is  parti- 
cularly expressed  in  Scripture  ;  for  our  Saviour 
spoke  many  things  to  His  disciples  concerning 
the  kingdom  of  God,  both  before  His  passion, 
and  after  His  crucifixion,  which  are  not  written 
in  the  Scriptures ;  and  who  can  say,  but  that 
among  those  many  unwritten  sayings  of  His, 
there  might  be  an  express  precept  for  infant 
baptism?"3  And  Mr.  Leigh,  one  of  the  dis- 
putants in  the  Portsmouth  Discussion,  sug- 
gests, that  "  although  infant  baptism  is  not  to 
be  found  in  the  writings  of  the  Apostle  Paul 
extant  in  the  Scriptures,  yet  it  might  be  in 
some  writings  of  his  which  are  lost,  and  not 
now  extant."3     All  this   is  plainly  giving  up 


1  Infant's  Advocate,  p.  71,  150.     2  Modest  Plea,  p.  268. 

3  Narrative  of  the  Portsmouth  Disputation,  pp.  16-18. 

We  find  Dr.  Woods  of  Andover  making  a  similar  con- 
cession. In  his  Lectures  on  Infant  Baptism,  p.  11,  he 
says,  "  It  is  a  plain  case,  that  there  is  no  express  precept 
respecting  infant  baptism  in  our  Sacred  Writings  The 
proof,  then,  that  it  is  a  divine  institution  must  be  made 
3* 


30  INFANT  BAPTISM  A 

infant  baptii-.n  as  contained  in  the  Sacred 
Writings,  and  placing  it  upon  unwritten,  apos- 
tolical tradition ;  and  that,  too,  conjectural 
and  uncertain. 


out  in  some  other  way."  What  can  this  other  way  mean, 
but  tradition  ?  It  must  surely  he  his  intention  to  affirm 
that  a  rite  was  ordained  by  Christ,  and  practised  by  the 
Apostles,  for  which  the  Scriptures  contain  no  precept. 
How  can  he  know  it  ?  Whatever  he  may  call  the  channel 
by  which  he  professes  to  have  received  the  proof  of  such 
a  fact,  it  resolves  itself  into  tradition ;  for  to  admit  as  of 
divine  origin  an  institution  concerning  which  the  Bible 
is  silent,  is  to  give  up  the  sufficiency  of  revelation,  and 
accept  the  authority  of  tradition.  Prof.  Stuart,  also,  in 
the  Biblical  Repository  for  1833,  p.  385,  says,  "  Com- 
mands, or  plain  and  certain  examples,  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment relative  to  it" — that  is,  infant  baptism — "  I  do  not 
find."  And  Dr.  Neander,  in  his  Planting  and  Training, 
p.  101,  declares,  "  As  baptism  was  closely  united  with  a 
conscious  entrance  on  Christian  communion,  faith  and 
baptism  were  always  connected  with  one  another ;  and 
thus  it  is  in  the  highest  degree  probable  that  baptism 
was  performed  only  in  instances  where  both  could  .meet 
together,  and  that  the  practice  of  infant  baptism  was  un- 
known to  the  apostolic  age."  In  his  Church  History,  Vol. 
I.,  p.  311,  Torrey's  Translation,  he  makes  the  same 
admission  in  still  stronger  terms.  "  Baptism  was  at  first 
administered  only  to  adults,  as  men  were  accustomed  to 
conceive  baptism  and  faith  as  strictly  connected.  We 
have  all  reason   for   not  deriving  infant   baptism   from 


PART  AND  PILLAR  OF  POPERY.  31 

Now,  infant  baptism,  with  all  the  ceremon- 
ies attending  it,  for  which  also  apostolical  tra- 
dition is  pretended,  makes  a  very  considera- 
ble figure  in  Popish  pageantry.  Romanists 
administer  the  rite  with  circumstances  of  great 
pomp  and  show ;  such  as  the  consecration  of 
the  water ;  the  presence  of  sponsors,  who  an- 
swer the  interrogatories,  and  make  the  renun- 
ciation, in  the  name  of  the  child  ;  exorcisms, 
exsufnations,  crossings,  the  use  of  salt,  spittle, 
and  oil.  Before  the  baptism,  the  water  is 
consecrated  with  much  solemn  parade.  First, 
the  priest  makes  an  exorcism  ;  breathing  three 
times  into  the  water  in  the  figure  of  a  cross, 
and  saying,  "I  adjure  thee,  0  creature  of 
water !"  Then  he  divides  the  water  after 
the  manner  of  a  cross,  and  makes  three 
or  four  crossings.  Next,  he  takes  a  horn 
of  oil,  and  pours  it  three  times  upon  the 
water   in   the  form  of  a  cross,  and  makes  a 

apostolical  institution."  Now,  if  any  trace  of  infant  bap- 
tism were  to  be  found  in  the  New  Testament,  or  in  any 
writing  pertaining  to  the  first  age  of  the  church,  it  could 
not  have  escaped  the  searching  eye  of  Neander,  whose 
knowledge  of  primitive  antiquity  is  admitted  by  all  to  be 
unsurpassed  in  depth  and  comprehensiveness. — Ed. 


32  INFANT  BAPTISM  A 

prayer,  that  the  font  may  be  sanctified,  and 
the  Eternal  Trinity  be  present ;  saying,  "  De- 
scend from  heaven,  and  sanctify  this  water, 
and  give  grace  and  virtue,  that  be  who  is  bap- 
tized according  to  the  command  of  Thy  Christ, 
may  be  crucified,  and  die,  and  be  buried,  and 
rise  again,  with  Him." 

The  sponsors,  or  sureties,  then  recite  on 
behalf  of  the  child,  the  creed  and  the  Lord!s 
prayer,  renounce  the  devil  and  all  his  works, 
and  answer  the  questions  put  in  the  name  of 
the  child.  The  form  of  interrogation  and 
reply  according  to  the  Roman  ritual,  is  this ; 
"The  name  of  the  infant  being  called,  the 
presbyter  must  say,  Dost  thou  renounce  Sa- 
tan ?  Answer,  I  do  renounce.  And  all  his 
works  ?  Answer,  I  do  renounce.  And  all  his 
pomps?  Answer,  I  do  renounce."  Three 
times  these  questions  are  put,  and  three  times 
the  sureties  answer.  The  interrogations  are 
sometimes  made  by  a  priest,  sometimes  by  a 
presbyter,  and  sometimes  by  an  exorcist.  The 
following  question  is  also  added,  "  Dost  thou 
believe  in  God,  the  Father  Almighty,  Creator 
of  heaven  and  earth  ?"  To  which  the  sponsors 
reply,  "I  do  believe." 


PART  AND  PILLAR  OF  POPERY.  33 

Previous  to  being  baptized,  the  infant  is 
breathed  upon,  and  exorcised,  that  the  wicked 
spirit  may  be  driven  from  it,  and  that  it  may 
be  delivered  from  the  power  of  darkness,  and 
be  translated  into  the  kingdom  of  Christ.  The 
following  is  the  formula  for  this  part  of  the  ser- 
vice prescribed  by  the  Papal  code.  "  Let  him — 
the  minister,  priest,  deacon,  or  exorcist — blow 
into  the  face  of  the  person  to  be  baptized, 
three  times,  saying,  Go  out,  thou  unclean 
spirit,  and  give  place  to  the  Holy  Ghost,  the 
Comforter."  That  of  Gregory  is  slightly 
different.  "  I  exorcise  thee,  0  unclean  spirit, 
in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son, 
and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  that  thou  go  out  and 
depart  from  this  servant  of  God." 

After  the  infant  has  been  exorcised  and 
blessed,  salt  is  put  into  its  mouth,  as  a  token 
of  its  being  seasoned  with  the  salt  of  wisdom; 
and  as  an  intimation  that  "  by  the  doctrines 
of  faith,  and  by  the  gift  of  grace,  he  shall  be 
preserved  from  the  corruption  of  sin,  experi- 
ence a  relish  for  good  works,  and  be  nurtured 
with  the  food  of  divine  knowledge."  The  priest 
first  blesses  the  salt  after  this  manner,  "I  ex- 
orcise thee,  0  creature  of  salt;"  and  then, 


34  INFANT  BAPTISM  A 

having  blessed  it,  lie  puts  it  into  the  mouth  of 
the  infant,  saying,  "  Receive  the  salt  of  Avis- 
dom  unto  life  everlasting." 

The   nostrils   and  ears  of  infants   at  their  . 
baptism  are   also  touched  with  spittle  by  the 
priest,  to  indicate  that  their  senses  are  opened 
to  receive  the  savor  of  the  knowledge  of  God, 
and   to   hear   his   commands ;    and  that   "  as 
sight  was  given  to  the  blind  man  mentioned  in 
the   Gospel,  whom  the  Lord,   having  spread 
clay  on  his  eyes,  commanded  to  wash  them  in 
the  waters  of  Siloam,   so  by  the  efficacy  of 
holy  baptism,  a  light   is   let   in  on  the  mind 
which  enables  it  to  discern  heavenly  truth." 
Formerly  spittle  was  put  upon  the  eyes  and 
the  tongue  ;  but  that  part   of  the  ceremony 
seems  now  to  be  laid   aside.      And   yet   no 
farther  back  than  the  birth  of  king  James  I, 
it  appears  to  have  been  in  use ;  since,  at  his 
baptism,  his   mother  sent  word  to  Hamilton, 
archbishop  of  St.  Andrews,  who  was  to  offici- 
ate on  the  occasion,  to  forbear  the  use  of  spit- 
tle, saying,  "  She  would  not    have    a    pocky 
priest  to  spit  in  her  child's  mouth."  *     The 

1  Abstract  of  the  History  of  ropery,  part  I,  p.  114. 


PART  AND  PILLAR  OP  POPERY.  35 

prelate,  it  was  well  known,  had  led  so  licen- 
tious a  life,  as  to  have  become  diseased  through 
his  debaucheries.  *  In  queen  Mary's  reign, 
the  practice  seems  to  have  been  common  ;  for 
when  the  martyr,  Robert  Smith,  was  asked  by 
Bonner,  in  what  particulars  Papists  dissented 
from  the  word  of  God  in  the  administration  of 
baptism,  he  answered;  "First,  in  hallowing 
your  water ;  in  conjuring  the  same ;  in  bap- 
tizing children  with  anointing  and  spitting  in 
their  mouths,  mingled  with  salt ;  and  with 
many  other  lewd  ceremonies,  not  one  point  of 
which  is  able  to  be  proved  in  God's  order."3 
All  of  which  he  calls  "  a  mingle-mangle,"  and 
"a  shameful  blasphemy  against  Christ." 

Chrism  is  another  ceremony  used  both  be- 
fore and  after  baptism.  The  parts  anointed, 
are  the  breast,  shoulders,  and  head ;  the  breast, 
that  no  remains  of  the  latent  enemy  may  re- 
side in  the  person  baptized ;  the  shoulders, 
that  he  may  be  fortified  and  strengthened  to 
do  good  works  to  the  glory  of  God ;  and  the 

1  Vide  Rivet,  Animadv.  in  Grot.  Annotat.  in  Cassan- 
der,  Consultat,  p  72. 

2  Fox's  Acts  and  Monuments,  folio,  vol.  Ill,  p.  400. 
[Vol.  VIII.  p.  351.     Cattley's  ed.,  London,  1838.] 


36  IXFAXT  BAPTISM  A 

head,  to  denote,  "  that  from  the  moment  of 
his  baptism,  he  is  united  as  a  member  to 
Christ,  his  Head,  and  engrafted  on  his  body ; 
and  that  he  is,  therefore,  called  a  Christian 
from  Christ,  as  Christ  is  so  called  from 
Chrism."  This  anointing  is  made  in  the  form 
of  a  cross.  On  applying  it  to  the  shoulders, 
the  priest  says,  "  Flee,  thou  unclean  spirit, 
give  honor  to  the  living  and  true  God."  On 
applying  it  to  the  breast,  he  says,  "  Go  out, 
thou  unclean  spirit,  give  place  to  the  Holy 
Ghost."  And  when  he  applies  it  to  the  head, 
he  says  to  the  candidate,  "  I  annoint  thee  with 
the  oil  of  salvation,  that  thou  mayest  have 
life  everlasting." 

The  next  ceremoDy  is  that  of  signing  the  in- 
fant with  the  sign  of  the  cross.  This  is  made  in 
several  parts  of  the  body,  especially  the  fore- 
head, eyes,  and  ears,  to  declare,  that  "by  the 
mystery  of  baptism,  the  senses  of  the  person 
baptized  are  opened  and  strengthened,  to  en- 
able him  to  receive  God,  and  to  understand 
and  observe  his  commandments ;"  and  to  sig- 
nify that  he  is  now  consecrated  by  the  cross 
to  the  service  of  Christ,  and  to  a  manful  re- 
sistance   against    Satan.     In 


PART  AXD  PILLAR  OF  POPERY.  37 

honey  and  milk,  or  wine  and  milk,  were  given 
after  baptism ;  though  the  practice  has  now 
fallen  into-  disuse.  Infants  were  also  admitted 
to  the  Lord's  supper.  This  custom  continued 
for  several  centuries  in  the  Latin  Church,  and 
is  still  preserved  in  the  Greek  Church.1 

Should  the  reader  require  proof  of  the  use 
of  these  various  observances,  he  may  consult 
an  able  treatise  "  on  the  ancient  rites  and 
ceremonies  of  baptism,"  by  Joseph  Yicecomes, 
a  learned  Papist,  as  he  is  denominated  by  I>r. 
Wall ;  where  he  will  find  them  largely  treated, 
and  the  authorities  for  them  fully  cited.  These 
ceremonies  are  also  fully  rehearsed  and  con- 
demned by  the  ancient  Waldenses,  in  a  tract 
on  Antichrist,  supposed  to  have  been  written 
early  in  the  twelfth  century.2 

1  For  a  similar  account  of  the  baptismal  ceremonies 
practised  by  Ptomanists,  see  Cramp's  Text  Book  of 
Popery,  pp.  122-124.     London,  1839.— Ed. 

2  Moreland's  History  of  the  Churches  of  Piedmont,  p.  173 
To  this  treatise  Perrin  assigns  the  date  of  1120.     But 

as  it  contains  quotations  from  the  Scriptures  with  the 
division  of  chapters  and  verses ;  -which  did  not  come  into 
use  until  the  latter  part  of  the  thirteenth  century;  either 
the  date  is  too  early,  or  this  division  was  afterwards  in- 
troduced into  it  by  some  copyist. — Ed. 


38  INFANT  BAPTISM  A 

It  may,  perhaps,  be  asked,  to  what  purpose 
is  this  account  of  the  ceremonies  observed  by 
Papists  in  the  administration  of  baptism  to 
infants,  since  they  are  not  used  by  Protestant 
Pedobaptists?  I  answer,  it  is  to  show  what  a 
prominent  place  infant  baptism,  with  the  osten- 
tatious ritual  attending  it,  holds  in  the  system 
Popery;  and  that,  being  thus  interwoven  with 
its  very  structure,  and  contributing  largely  to 
its  pomp  and  parade,  it  may  with  propriety  be 
called  a  part  of  it.  Besides,  although  the 
ceremonies  above  described  are  not  all  prac- 
ticed now  by  any  class  of  Protestant  Pedo- 
baptists, yet  several  of  them  are  still  retained 
by  many  who  call  themselves  Protestants.  Of 
this  kind,  are  sponsors ;  the  interrogations 
made  to  them,  and  the  answers  given,  in  the 
name  of  infants ;  the  renunciation  of  the 
devil  and  all  his  works ;  and  signing  with  the 
sign  of  the  cross.  And  since  these  and  the 
others  all  claim  apostolical  authority,  and  most 
of  them,  if  not  all,  have  as  good  and  as  early 
a  pretension  to  it  as  infant  baptism  itself; 
those,  who  admit  that  on  this  footing,  ought 
to  admit  these,  its  adjuncts,  also.  On  this 
subject  the  reader   is   referred   to  a  treatise 


PART  AND  PILLAR  OP  POPERY.  39 

by  me,  entitled,  The  Argument  from  Apos- 
tolical Tradition  in  favor  of  Infant  Baptism 
Considered. 

Most  of  the  ceremonies  which  have  been 
mentioned,  are  noticed  by  Basil,  who  lived  in 
the  fourth  century,  as  then  in  use,  and  as 
derived,  not  from  Scripture,  but  from  tradi- 
tion. Speaking  of  the  sign  of  the  cross  in 
baptism,  he  says,  "  We  sign  with  the  sign  of 
the  cross.  "Who  has  taught  this  in  Scripture? 
We  consecrate  the  water  of  baptism  and  the 
oil  of  unction,  as  well  as  him  who  receives  bap- 
tism. From  what  Scriptures  ?  Is  it  not  from 
private  and  secret  tradition  ?  Moreover,  the 
anointing  with  oil,  what  passage  in  Scripture 
teaches  this  ?  Xow  a  man  is  thrice  immersed  ; 
from  whence  is  it  derived  or  enjoined  ?  Also 
the  rest  of  what  is  done  in  baptism,  as  the 
renouncing  of  Satan  and  his  angels;  from 
what  Scripture  have  we  it  ?  Is  not  this  from 
private  and  secret  tradition?"1  And,  in  like 
manner,  Augustine  speaks  of  exorcisms  and 
exsufflations  in  baptism,  as  derived  from  an- 
cient  tradition,  and  of  universal  use  in  the 

1  De  Spiritu  Sancto,  c.  27. 


40  INFANT  BAPTISM  A 

church.1  Now,  whoever  receives  infant  bap- 
tism on  the  ground  of  apostolical  tradition, 
ought  to  receive  these  also,  since  they  rest  on 
precisely  the  same  foundation. 

The  various  ceremonies  noticed  above,  how- 
ever they  may  have  been  subsequently  mo- 
dified and  extended,  all  go  back  to  a  very 
remote  antiquity.  They  are  coeval  with  infant 
baptism  itself,  and  some  of  them  even  pre- 
ceded it.  Pedobaptism  was  first  recognized  as 
an  established  institution  of  the  church,  in  the 
early  part  of  the  fifth  century.  Several  doc- 
tors in  the  preceding  century  had,  indeed, 
espoused  and  asserted  it ;  and  the  practice 
had  gradually  spread,  especially  in  North 
Africa.  But  it  was  not  until  the  provincial 
council  of  Mileve,  more  correctly  called  the 
council  of  Carthage,  held  about,  A.  D.,  418, 
that  any  canon  was  passed  in  its  favor.  This 
Bishop  Taylor  acknowledges.2  Grotius  also 
takes  the  same  ground,  and  affirms  this  to  be 
the  first  council  in  which  the  custom  was  men- 

1  De  Peccato  Orig.  L.  II.  c.  40.  De  Nupt.  et  concup. 
L.  I.  c.  20:  L.  II.  c.  18. 

2  Liberty  of  Prophesying.  Works,  Vol.  V.  p.  552.-— 
Eden's  ed 


PART  AND  PILLAR  OF  POPERT.  41 

tioned  with  approbation.1  And  Augustine,  in 
his  book  against  the  Donatists,  written  before 
the  meeting  of  this  council,  while  he  asserts 
that  the  church  had  always  held  infant  bap- 
tism, and  that  it  was  most  rightly  believed  to 
have  been  delivered  by  apostolical  tradition,  ne- 
vertheless confesses  that  as  yet  it  had  not  been 
instituted  or  sanctioned  by  the  decree  of  any 
council.2  What,  however,  had  not  then  been 
done,  was  effected  soon  afterwards,  and,  pro- 
bably, in  a  great  degree,  through  his  own  in- 
fluence. At  the  council  mentioned  above,  over 
which  he  himself  presided,  the  following  canon 
was  enacted.  "  Also  it  is  our  pleasure,  that 
whosoever  denies  that  new-born  infants  ought 
to  be  baptized — let  him  be  anathema."3  The 
decrees  of  this  council  were  sent  to  Pope  In- 
nocent I.,  and  by  him  approved  ;4  thus  identi- 
fying the  then  nascent  Papacy  with  the  earliest 
canonical  sanction  of  infant  baptism.  If,  then, 
this  rite  first  received  the  authority  of  law 
from  a  Popish  council,  and  was  first  confirmed 

1  Comment,  on  Matt.  xix.  14. 

2  De  Baptismo  contra  Donatist.  L.  IV.  c.  24. 

3  Dupin's  Eccl.  History  Vol.  I.  p.  635.  Dublin,  1623. 

4  Madgcburg  Centuriators,  cent.  V.  c.  9,  pp.  468,  473. 


42  INFANT  BAPTISM  A 

as  an  established  rule  by  the  Pope  himself, 
may  it  not  well  be  called  a  part  of  Popery  ? 
The  two  are,  in  fact,  indissolubly  united — one  - 
in  their  origin,  their  growth,  and  their  results. 
The  same  mother-heresy, — Baptismal  Rege- 
neration— which  gave  birth  to  Popery,  gave 
birth  to  Infant  Baptism.  They  were  engen- 
dered in  the  same  dark  womb  of  ignorance 
and  superstition.  They  came  forth  together. 
They  grew  up  together.  Together  they  over- 
spread the  nations.  And  together  shall  they 
disappear  before  the  light  of  Christ's  Gospel, 
and  the  brightness  of  his  coming. 

Further,  baptism  by  immersion,  which  for 
thirteen  hundred  years  was  generally  observed 
in  the  Latin  Church,  and  is  still  universally 
practiced  in  the  Greek  Church,  was  first 
changed  into  sprinkling  by  the  Papists. 
This  was  not  a  mere  change  in  the  form  of 
baptism.  It  was  the  abrogation  of  baptism 
itself.  For  it  is  not,  as  some  consider,  a  mat- 
ter of  indifference  whether  much  or  little  water 
be  used  in  baptism.  Immersion  belongs  to  the 
very  essence  of  baptism,  and  without  it,  there 
can  be  no  baptism.  As  Sir  John  Floyer  ob- 
serves, "it  is  no  circumstance,  but  the  very 


PART  AND  PILLAR  OF  POPERY.  43 

act  of  baptism."1  The  same  writer  also  de- 
clares, that  "  aspersion,  or  sprinkling,  was 
brought  into  the  church  by  the  Popish  School- 
men, and  that  the  English  Dissenters  adopted, 
it  from  them.  The  Schoolmen  employed  their 
•wits  to  find  out  reasons  for  the  alteration  to 
sprinkling,  and  brought  it  into  use  in  the 
twelfth  century."3  And  it  must  be  observed, 
to  the  honor  of  the  Church  of  England,  that 
it  has  not  established  sprinkling  in  bap- 
tism to  this  day;  sprinkling  being  permitted 
only  when  it  is  certified,  that  the  child  is 
weak,  and  not  able  to  bear  dipping.  In  all 
other  cases,  the  Rubric  orders  the  priest  to 
dip  the  child  warily.  The  legal  sanction  of 
sprinkling  in  Great  Britain  came  from  the 
Presbyterians  during  the  civil  war.  The  West- 
minster Assembly  of  Divines  decided  for 
sprinkling  against  dipping  by  a  majority  of 
only  one  ;  twenty-five  voting  for  it,  and  twenty- 
four  in  opposition  to  it.  On  their  recommen- 
dation, it  was  established  by  Act  of  Parliament 
in   1664.3     They  borrowed  it  from  Geneva; 


1  Essay  to  restore  Dipping,  p.  44. 

2  Ibid.  3  Ibid.  pp.  12,  22. 


44  INFANT  BAPTISM  A 

and  Geneva  borrowed  it  from  Rome.  That 
this  innovation  had  its  rise  from  the  authority 
of  the  Pope,  Dr.  Wall  himself  acknowledges, 
when  he  affirms  that  the  sprinkling  of  infants 
is  from  Popery.  "  All  the  nations  of  Chris- 
tians," he  says,  "  that  do  now,  or  formerly 
did,  submit  to  the  authority  of  the  Bishop  of 
Koine,  do  ordinarily  baptize  their  infants  by 
pouring  or  sprinkling.  And  though  the  Eng- 
lish received  not  this  custom  till  after  the  de- 
cay of  Popery,  yet  they  have  since  received 
it  from  such  neighboring  nations  as  had  begun 
it  in  the  time  of  the  Pope's  power.  But  all 
other  Christians  in  the  world,  who  never 
owned  the  Pope's  usurped  power,  do,  and  ever 
did,  dip  their  infants  in  their  ordinary  use."1 
Thus  does  it  appear  that  infant  baptism,  both 
with  respect  to  its  subjects,  and  the  mode  in 
which  it  is  now  administered,  may,  with  great 
propriety,  be  called  a  part  and  branch  of 
Popery. 

But  not  only  is  it   a  part  of  Popery,  and 
thus  contributing   to  strengthen  it,  as  a  part 

1  History  of  Infant  Baptism,  Vol.  II.  p.  414.     Oxford, 
183D. 


PART  AND  PILLAR  OF  POPERY.  45 

does  the  whole ;  it  is,  moreover,  its  pillar  and 
main  support.  It  is  the  source  from  which 
Romanists,  in  contending  with  Protestants, 
draw  the  strongest  arguments  in  favor  of  their 

to  to 

traditions,  and  of  the  authority  of  the  church 
to  alter  the  rites  of  divine  worship  ;  on  which, 
as  we  have  seen,  the  essential  characteristics  of 
Popery  depend.  Papal  disputants  sadly  embar- 
rass Protestant  Pedobaptists,  when  they  bring 
forward  infant  baptism,  and  urge  their  oppo- 
nents to  prove  it  by  Scripture,  both  in  its  sub- 
jects and  in  its  mode ;  and  if  they  cannot  do 
this,  then  either  to  give  it  up  entirely,  or  allow  of 
unscriptural  traditions  and  the  authority  of  the 
church ;  adding  the  perplexing  question,  that 
if  they  admit  unwritten  traditions  and  the 
custom  of  the  church  in  one  case,  why  do  they 
reject  them  in  others  ?  This  way  of  arguing,  as 
Mr.  Stennett  observes,1  was  used  by  Cardinal 
Du  Perron,  in  his  reply  to  king  James  I.,  and 
by  Mr.  John  Ainsworth  against  Mr.  Henry 
Ainsworth  ;  and  by  Fisher,  the  Jesuit,  against 
archbishop  Laud.  An  instance  of  the  same 
kind,  he  adds,  is  furnished  in  the  controversy 

et  sequitar. 


46  INFANT  BAPTISM  A 

between  Bossuet,  bishop  of  Meaux,  and  a 
learned  anonymous  writer,  said  to  be  M.  De 
La  Roque,  pastor  of  the  Reformed  Church  at 
Rouen,  in  Normandy.  The  bishop,  in  order 
to  defend  the  withholding  of  the  cup  from  the 
laity  in  the  Lord's  supper,  according  to  the 
authority  of  the  church,  urged  that  infant  bap- 
tism, both  as  to  subject  and  mode,  was  un- 
scriptural,  resting  solely  on  the  authority  of 
tradition  and  custom ;  with  which,  neverthe- 
less, the  pretended  Reformed  complied ;  and, 
therefore,  why  should  they  refuse  compliance 
in    the    other    case  ?     This    reasoning    called 

forth  from  his  antagonist  the  ingenuous  con- 
es o 

fession,  that  to  baptize  by  sprinkling  was 
certainly  an  abuse,  derived  from  the  Romish 
Church  without  due  examination,  as  well  as 
many  other  things,  which  he  and  his  brethren 
were  resolved  to  correct.  He  then  thanked 
the  bishop  for  undeceiving  them  ;  and  freely 
confessed  that,  in  regard  to  the  baptism  of  in- 
fants, there  is  nothing  in  the  Gospel  to  justify 
the  necessity  of  it ;  and  that  the  passages 
produced  only  prove,  at  most,  that  it  is  per- 
mitted, or,  rather,  that  it  is  not  forbidden. 
An  amusing  incident  of  a  similar  kind  is 


PART  AND  PILLAR  OF  POPERY.  47 

told  concerning  a  Mr.  Jeremiah  Ives,  a  Bap- 
tist minister,  famous  for  his  talent  at  disputa- 
tion, who  lived  in  the  time  of  king  Charles  II. 
The  king  having  heard  of  his  peculiar  skill, 
sent  for  him  to  dispute  with  a  Romish  priest. 
This  he  did,  in  the  presence  of  the  king  and 
of  many  others,  dressed  in  the  habit  of  an 
Episcopal  clergyman.  Mr.  Ives  pressed  the 
priest  closely,  showing  that  to  whatever  anti- 
quity Romanists  pretended,  their  doctrines 
and  practices  could  by  no  means  be  proved  to 
be  apostolical ;  since  they  are  not  to  be  found 
in  any  writings  which  remain  of  the  apostolic 
age.  The  priest,  after  much  wrangling,  at 
last  replied,  that  this  argument  of  Mr.  Ives 
was  of  as  much  force  against  infant  baptism, 
as  against  the  doctrines  and  ceremonies  of  the 
Church  of  Rome.  To  which  Mr.  Ives  an- 
swered, that  he  readily  granted  what  he  said 
to  be  true.  On  this,  the  priest  broke  up  the 
conference,  saying,  that  he  had  been  cheated, 
and  would  proceed  no  farther  ;  for  he  came  to 
dispute  with  a  clergyman  of  the  established 
Church,  and  it  was  now  evident,  that  this  was 
an  Anabaptist  preacher.    The  behavior  of  the 


48  INFANT  BAPTISM  A 

priest   afforded  his  majesty,  and  all  present, 
not  a  little  diversion.1 

As  Protestant  Pedobaptists  are  urged  by 
this  argument  to  admit  the  unwritten  tra-  ■ 
ditions  of  the  Papists ;  so  Pedobaptist  Dis- 
senters are  pressed,  on  the  same  ground,  to 
comply  with  those  ceremonies  of  the  Church 
of  England,  which  have  been  retained  from  the 
Church  of  Rome.  Dr.  Whitby  employs  this 
argument  with  special  force,  when,  after  having 
pleaded  for  some  condescension  to  Dissenters, 
in  order  to  reconcile  them  to  the  Church,  he 
adds  ;  "  And,  on  the  other  hand,  if,  notwith- 
standing the  evidence  produced,  that  baptism 
by  immersion  is  suitable  to  the  institution 
both  of  our  Lord  and  His  Apostles,  and  was 
by  them  ordained  to  represent  our  burial  with 
Christ ;  and  so  our  dying  unto  sin,  and  our 
conformity  to  his  resurrection  by  newness  of 
life,  as  the  Apostle  clearly  maintains  the  mean- 
ing of  that  rite  ;2  if,  I  say,  notwithstanding  this, 
all  our  Dissenters" — Pedobaptist  Dissenters  he 
must  mean — "  do   agree  to  sprinkle  the  bap- 

1  Crosby's  Hist,  of  the  Baptists,  Vol.  IV.  pp.  217,  248. 
«  Rom.  vi.  3-6. 


PART  AND  PILLAR  OF  POPERY.  49 

tized  infant ;  why  may  they  not  as  well  sub- 
mit to  the  significant  ceremonies  imposed  by 
our  Church  ?  For,  since  it  is  as  lawful  to 
add  to  Christ's  institutions  a  significant  cere- 
mony, as  to  diminish  a  significant  ceremony 
which  He  or  His  Apostles  instituted,  and  use 
another  in  its  stead,  which  they  never  did  in- 
stitute ;  what  reason  can  they  have  to  do  the 
latter,  and  yet  refuse  submission  to  the  former? 
And  why  should  not  the  peace  and  union  of  the 
church  be  as  prevailing  with  them,  to  perform 
the  one,  as  is  their  mercy  to  the  infant's  body, 
to  neglect  the  other?"1  Thus  infant  baptism 
is  used  as  the  grand  plea  for  compliance  with 
the  ceremonies  both  of  the  Church  of  Rome 
and  the  Church  of  England.  It  is,  therefore, 
the  chief  prop  of  these  Antichristian  Hierar- 
chies— the  final  appeal  to  which  they  resort 
for  countenance  in  their  unscriptural  practices. 
And  so  triumphant  is  this  appeal,  that  no 
Pedobaptist  Protestant  or  Dissenter  has  ever 
been  able  to  stand  before  it. 

Further,  it  is  by  means  of  infant  baptism 
that  ''the  Man  of  Sin"  has  spread  his  baneful 
influence  over  many  nations.     This  is  abun- 

1  Protestant  Reconciler,  p.  289. 

5 


50  INFANT  BAPTISM  A 

dantly  evident  from  the  fact,  that  through  the 
christening  of  children,  introduced  by  him,  he 
has  made  whole  nations  nominally  Christian, 
and  has  applied  to  them  the  designation  of. 
Christendom  ;  thus  extending  the  limits  of  his 
universal  church,  over  which,  as  the  pretended 
Vicar  of  Christ  on  earth,  he  claims  absolute 
power  and  authority.  By  the  same  means,  he 
retains  his  influence  over  these  nations,  keeps 
them  in  awe  of  his  spiritual  prerogatives,  and 
holds  them  in  servile  subjection  to  his  will. 
With  this  view,  he  sedulously  inculcates  the 
pernicious  dogma,  that,  by  their  baptism,  re- 
ceived in  infancy,  they  are  brought  into  the  fold 
of  the  church,  within  which  there  is  salvation, 
and  out  of  which  there  is  none ;  and  that,  there- 
fore, if  they  renounce  their  baptism,  or  aposta- 
tize from  the  church,  they  consign  themselves  to 
inevitable  damnation.  Thus,  by  his  menaces 
and  anathemas,  he  maintains  his  usurped  do- 
minion over  the  submissive  and  trembling 
nations.  And  if,  at  any  time,  one  of  these 
nations  has  courage  to  oppose  him,  and  to  act 
in  disobedience  to  his  mandates,  he  immedi- 
ately lays  it  under  an  interdict ;  suspending 
the  sacraments,   all   public   prayers,  burials, 


PART  AND  PILLAR  OF  POPERY.  51 

and  christenings ;  closing  the  churches ;  and 
forbidding  the  clergy  to  administer  their  func- 
tions to  any  but  those  who,  at  a  great  price, 
purchase  the  privilege  from  Rome.1  By  a 
superstitious  dread  of  these  prohibitions,  par- 
ticularly that  which  withholds  baptism  from 
children,  nations  are  induced  to  comply  with 
the  demands  of  the  Papal  power,  however 
oppressive  and  tyrannical  they  may  be.  For 
it  appears  most  dreadful  to  parents,  that  their 
children  should  be  deprived  of  baptism,  by 
which,  as  they  are  taught  to  believe,  they  are 
made  Christians,  and  without  which  there  is 
no  salvation.  Hence  whole  kingdoms  have 
been  known  to  yield  to  the  most  arbitrary 
exactions  of  Rome,  rather  than  lose  what  is 
deemed  so  very  important.  What  a  tremendous 
influence,  therefore,  must  infant  baptism  give  to 
Popery ;  and  how  cunningly  is  it  adapted  to 
uphold  its  power. 

But  the  baneful  influence,  which  Antichrist 
has  extended  over  the  nations,  through  infant 
baptism,  is  yet  further  seen  in  that  poisonous 

1  Abstract  of  the  History  of  Popery,  Part  I.  p.  463. 
Fox's  Acts  and  Monuments,  folio,  Vol.  1.  p.  326. 


52  INFANT  BAPTISM  A 

notion,  propagated  by  him,  that  the  sacra- 
ments, and  especially  baptism,  confer  grace 
by  their  intrinsic  efficacy;  "  ex  opere  operato'.' 
from  the  mere  fact  of  their  administration.  In- 
other  words,  he  has  taught  that  baptism  takes 
away  sin,  regenerates  men,  and  saves  their 
souls.  This  is  charged  upon  him  by  the 
ancient  Waldenses,  in  the  treatise  on  Anti- 
christ, to  which  I  have  already  referred. 
Speaking  of  the  corruptions  of  the  Papal 
Hierarchy,  they  say :  "  The  third  work  of 
Antichrist  consists  in  this,  that  he  attributes 
the  regenerating  grace  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to 
the  dead,  outward  act  of  baptism.  In  this 
faith,  he  baptizes  children,  teaching  that  sal- 
vation is  thus  to  be  obtained.  On  this  ground, 
he  confers  orders  and  other  sacraments ;  and 
thereon  builds  all  his  Christianity.  All  which 
is  against  the  Holy  Spirit."1 

The  same  Popish  notion  is  argued  against 
and  exposed  by  Robert  Smith,  the  martyr,  in 
his  examination  before  Bonner.  In  reply  to 
a  statement  of  the  latter,  that  "  infants  are 
damned,  if  they  die  without  being  baptized," 

1  Morland's  Hist,  of  the  Churches  of  Piedmont,  p.  118. 


PART  AND  PILLAR  OF  POPERY.  53 

he  asked  this  question ;  "  I  pray,  you,  my  lord, 
show  me,  are  we  saved  by  water  or  by  Christ  ?" 
To  which  Bonner  answered,  "  By  both." 
"Then,"  said  Smith,  "the  water  died  for  our 
sins,  and  so  must  ye  say  that  the  water  hath 
life,  and  it  being  our  servant,  and  created  for 
us,  is  our  Saviour.  This,  my  lord,  is  a  good 
doctrine,  is  it  not  ?"* 

The  leaven  of  this  old  and  destructive  error 
yet  remains  even  in  some  Protestant  churches, 
which  have  retained  it  from  Borne.  Hence  a 
child,  when  baptized,  is  declared  to  be  rege- 
nerate, and  thanks  are  returned  to  God,  that 
it  is  regenerate.  And  when  it  is  capable  of 
being  catechised,  it  is  taught  to  say  that,  in 
its  baptism,  it  was  made  a  child  of  God,  a 
member  of  Christ,  and  an  inheritor  of  the 
kingdom  of  heaven.  Such  instruction  cannot 
but  have  a  powerful  tendency  to  take  off  all 
concern  from  persons  when  grown  up,  respect- 
ing any  vital  change  of  heart,  as  necessary 
to  prepare  them  for  heaven ;  and  to  encourage 
in  them  the  fatal  presumption,  that,  notwith- 
standing their  evident  want  of  grace,  they  yet 

1  Fox's   Acts   and  Monuments,  folio,  Vol.   Ill,  p.  400 
[Vol.  VII.  p.  352,  Cattley's  edition,  London,  1838.] 
5* 


54  INFANT  BAPTISM  A 

are  members  of  Christ,  and  shall  never  perish 
— are  children  and  heirs  of  God,  and,  there- 
fore, must  certainly  inherit  eternal  life.  The 
father  of  lies  himself,  as  Dr.  Owen  justly  ob- 
serves,1 could  not  have  devised  a  more  perni- 
cious doctrine,  or  one  more  calculated  to  insure 
the  final  ruin  of  the  soul.  If,  then,  through 
infant  baptism,  this  fatal  heresy  reigns  su- 
preme in  lands  Papal,  and  is  still  widely  dif- 
fused and  powerful  in  lands  Protestant,  are  we 
not  warranted  in  saying,  that  by  means  of 
infant  baptism  Antichrist  has  spread  his  bane- 
ful influence  over  the  nations  ? 

1  Theologoumena,  L.  VI.  c.  III.  p.  477. 


PART  AND  PILLAR  OF  POPERY.  55 


CHAPTER  III. 

RELATION  OF  INFANT  BAPTISM  TO  CHURCH 
ESTABLISHMENTS. 

Nothing  can  be  more  evident  than  that 
infant  baptism  is  the  basis  of  national  churches, 
and,  therefore,  the  parent  of  all  the  mischiefs 
which  arise  from  the  unhallowed  union  of  the 
spiritual  and  the  profane  in  the  same  religious 
community.  If  a  church  be  national,  it  is  of 
course,  composed  of  all  the  men,  women,  and 
children  in  the  nation,  who  have  not  volunta- 
rily withdrawn  from  it.  Of  such  a  church 
children  are  originally  members,  either  by 
birth,  and  as  soon  as  they  are  born,  being  born 
in  the  church  ;  that  is,  in  a  Christian  country, 
which  is  the  church ;  or  rather  by  baptism,  as 
it  is  generally  expressed.  Thus,  according  to 
the  order  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  at  the  bap- 
tism of  a  child,  the  minister  says,  "  We  re- 
ceive  this    child    into   the    congregation    of 


56  INFANT  BAPTISM  A 

Christ's  flock."1  By  the  Assembly  of  Divines, 
baptism  is  called  "  a  sacrament  of  the  New 
Testament,  whereby  the  parties  baptized,  are 
solemnly  admitted  into  the  visible  church."3 
Of  this  the  following  explanation  is  given  in 
the  next  answer  of  the  Catechism,  in  which 
the  general  proposition,  though  correct,  is 
virtually  nullified  by  the  exception  made  in 
the  case  of  infants,  who  form  a  large  majority 
of  the  baptized.  "  Baptism  is  not  to  be  ad- 
ministered to  any  that  are  out  of  the  visible 
church,  and  so  strangers  to  the  covenant  of 
promise,  till  they  profess  their  faith  in  Christ, 
and  their  obedience  to  Him  ;  but  infants,  de- 
scending from  parents  either  both  or  but  one 
of  them  professing  faith  in  Christ,  and  obe- 
dience to  Him,  are,  in  that  respect,  within 
the  covenant,  and  are  to  be  baptized."3 
Calvin,  according  to  whose  plan  of  church 
government  at  Geneva  that  of  the  Scotch 
Church  was  modeled,  denominates  baptism 
"  a  solemn  introduction  into  the  church  of 
God."  And  Mr.  Baxter  argues,  that  "if 
there  be  neither  precept  nor  example  of 
admitting  church  members    in    all   the   New 

1  Liturgy  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church. 

2  Larger  Catechism,  p.  337.  3  Ibid.  p.  338. 


PART  AND  PILLAR  OF  POPERY.  57 

Testament  but  by  baptism,  tben  all  that  are 
now  admitted  ought  to  come  in  by  baptism. 
But  there  is  neither  precept  nor  example  in 
all  the  New  Testament  of  admitting  church 
members  but  by  baptism.  Therefore,  they 
ought  to  come  in  the  same  way  now."  So 
then  infants,  becoming  members  of  a  national 
church  by  baptism,  are  originally  of  it,  and 
constitute  the  materials  of  which  it  is  com- 
posed. It  is,  in  fact,  by  the  baptism  of  infants, 
that  a  national  church  is  supplied  with  mem- 
bers, and  is  supported  and  maintained.  Hence, 
it  may  be  truly  said,  that  infant  baptism  is  the 
foundation  of  a  national  church,  and  is,  in- 
deed, the  very  sinews,  strength,  and  life  of  it. 
And  infants,  having  been  thus  admitted  mem- 
bers by  baptism,  continue  such  when  grown 
up,  even  though  most  dissolute  in  their  con- 
duct, as  multitudes  of  them  are.  Many,  in- 
stead of  being  treated  as  church  members, 
deserve  to  be  sent  to  the  House  of  Correction 
—  a  punishment  which  some  of  them  receive; 
and  others  are  guilty  of  such  flagitious  crimes, 
that  they  die  an  infamous  death.  Yet  even 
these   die   in  the  communion  of  the  church. 


58  INFANT  BAPTISM  A 

And  thus  the  church  and  the  world  are  united 
and  kept  together  till  death  doth  them  part.. 

The  Independents,  according  to  their  prin- 
ciples, would  indeed  separate  the  church  and 
the  world.  But,  in  practice,  they  cannot  do 
it,  being  fettered  and  hampered  by  infant 
baptism  and  infant  membership.  The  embar- 
rassment which  this  subject  occasions  them, 
appears  from  the  great  diversity  of  opinions 
which  they  entertain  respecting  it,  and  from 
the  endless  inconsistencies  in  which  it  involves 
them.  They  seem  sadly  at  a  loss  what  to  do 
with  infant  baptism,  or  where  to  place  it. 
Some  place  it  on  the  interest  of  the  infant  in 
the  covenant  of  grace.  But  here  they  often 
contradict  themselves  and  one  another.  At 
one  time  they  say  it  is  interest  in  the  cove- 
nant of  grace  which  gives  infants  a  right  to 
baptism ;  at  another,  that  it  is  by  baptism 
they  are  brought  into  the  covenant ;  and  then 
again,  that  it  is  not  in  the  inward  part  of  the 
covenant  that  they  are  interested,  but  only  in 
its  external  part,  where  hypocrites  and  grace- 
less persons  may  be ;  but  what  that  external 
part  is,  no  mortal  can  tell.  Others,  not  feeling 
so  certain  that  their  infant  seed,  as  such,  are 


PART  AND  PILLAR  OF  POPERY.  b\) 

all  interested  in  the  covenant  of  grace,  say  it 
is  not  that,  but  the  church  covenant  into  which 
godly  parents  enter,  which  gives  their  chil- 
dren with  them  a  right  to  church  membership 
and  baptism.  Children  in  their  minority,  it 
is  said,  covenant  with  their  parents,  and  so 
become  church  members,  and  this  entitles 
them  to  baptism  ;J  for,  according  to  the  ori- 
ginal theory  of  the  Puritans  of  New  England, 
none  but  members  of  a  visible  church  were  to  be 
baptized  ;2  though  Dr.  Godwin  is  of  a  different 
opinion.3  Hence  only  such  as  were  children  of 
parents  in  regular  connection  with  the  church 
were  admitted  to  baptism.4  In  the  case  of  ex- 
communicated members,  the  children  born  dur- 
ing the  period  of  their  excommunication,  might 
not  be  baptized.5  Children,  when  baptized,  were 
not  considered  confirmed  members,  until  they 

1  Disputation  concerning  church  members  and  their 
children  at  Boston,  p.  12, 13.  Hooker's  survey  of  Church 
Discipline,  Part  III.,  pp.  24,  25. 

2  Cotton's  Way  of  the  Churches  in  New  England,  p.  81. 
Boston  Disputation,  p.  4.  Defence  of  the  Nine  Proposi- 
tions, p.  115. 

3  Government  of  the  Churches  of  Christ,  p.  337. 

4  Defence  of  the  Nine  Propositions,  p.  69. 
6  Cotton's  Way,  p.  85. 


60  INFANT  BAPTISM  A 

professed  faith  and  repentance  ;*  yet,  during 
their  minority  which,  after  the  example  of 
Ishmael,  reached  till  they  •were  about  sixteen 
years  of  age,  they  were  regarded  as  real  mem- 
bers to  such  intents  and  purposes,  that  if  their 
parents  were  dismissed  to  other  churches,  their 
names  were  to  be  inserted  with  them  in  the 
letters  of  dismission.2  They  were  also  viewed, 
while  their  minority  continued,  as  under  the 
watch  and  care  of  the  church,  and  subject  to 
its  admonitions  and  censures,  with  a  view  to 
their  moral  correction  and  improvement;3 
though  not  in  such  a  way  as  to  render  them 
liable  to  public  discipline  and  excommunica- 
tion.4 

The  original  Puritans  thought,  that  by  the 
covenant  seed,  who  have  a  right  to  baptism 
and  church  membership,  were  meant  only  the 
seed  of  parents  in  immediate  fellowship  with 
the  church,  and  not  of  progenitors  more  re- 
mote.5 Mr.  Cotton  says,  "Infants  cannot 
claim  right  to  baptism  but  in  the  right  of  one 

1  Cotton's  Holiness  of  church  members,  p.  19.  Boston 
Disputation,  p.  3. 

2  Ibid.  p.  15.         3  Cambridge  Platform,  p.  18. 
4  Boston  Disputation,  p.  14.         5  Ibid.  p.  19. 


PART  AND   PILLAR  OP  POPERY.  61 

of  their  parents  or  both  ;  where  neither  of  the 
parents  can  claim  right  to  the  Lord's  supper, 
there  their  infants  cannot  claim  right  to  bap- 
tism."1 Afterwards,  however,  he  qualifies 
this  statement  by  observing,  "It  may  be  con- 
sidered, whether  the  children  may  not  be  bap- 
tized, where  either  the  grandfather  or  grand- 
mother have  made  profession  of  their  faith 
and  repentance  before  the  church,  and  are 
still  living  to  undertake  for  the  christian  edu- 
cation of  the  child ;  or  if  these  fail,  what  hin- 
ders but  that  if  the  parents  will  resign  their 
infant  to  be  educated  in  the  house  of  any 
godly  member  of  the  church,  the  child  may 
be  lawfully  baptized  in  the  right  of  its  house- 
hold governor."2  But  Mr.  Hooker  asserts, 
that  "  since  children  as  children  have  no  right 
to  baptism,  it  belongs  not  to  any  predecessors, 
whether  near  or  remote,  to  confer  a  right  to 
this  privilege."3  In  the  term,  predecessors, 
he  includes  all  except  the  parents  themselves  ; 
such  as  grand  parents,  great  grand  parents, 
etc.     Thus,  too,  the  ministers  and  messengers 

»  Cotton's  Way  of  Churches,  p.  81.         2  Ibid.  115. 
8  Survey  of  Church  Discipline,  part  III.  p.  13. 

6 


62  INFANT  BAPTISM  A 

of  the  Conoreo-ational  Churches  that  met  at  the 

©      o 

Savoy,  declare,  that  "  not  only  those,  who  do 
actually  possess  faith  in  Christ,  and  ohedience 
to  Him,  are  to  be  baptized ;  but  also  infants, 
one  or  both  of  whose  parents  are  believers, 
are  to  be  admitted  to  the  ordinance,  and 
those  only."1 

Among  the  commissioners  appointed  to  re- 
view the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  in  the  be- 
ginning of  the  reign  of  Charles  II.,  those  of 
the  Presbyterian  persuasion  brought  for- 
ward the  following  motion:  "Whereas,  there 
are  divers  learned,  pious,  and  peaceable  minis- 
ters, who  judge  it  unlawful  to  baptize  not  only 
children  whose  parents  are  atheists,  infidels, 
heretics,  or  unbaptized,  but  also  such  whose 
parents  are  excommunicated  persons,  fornica- 
tors, or  otherwise  notorious  and  scandalous 
sinners ;  we  desire  that  they  may  not  be  en- 
forced to  baptize  the  children  of  such,  until 
they  have  made  an  open  profession  of  their 
repentance  before  baptism."3  At  the  present 
day,  however,  the  churches  of  this  denomina- 
tion, except  in  a  few  instances,  do  not  adhere 

1  Declaration  of  Faith  and  Order.  Chap.  xxix.  p.  48. 

2  Proceedings  of  the  Commissioners,  p.  22. 


PABT  AND  PILLAR  OF  POPERY.  63 

to  the  principles  and  practices  of  their  prede- 
cessors ;  but  admit  to  baptism,  not  only  the 
children  of  church  members,  but  of  those  who 
are  not;  and,  indeed,  the  children  of  any, 
whether  religious  or  irreligious,  who  may  ap- 
ply to  them  for  that  purpose.1 

But  supposing  that,  in  all  cases,  none  but  the 
children  of  parents  in  full  communion  with  the 
church  were  admitted  to  baptism — would  this 
remedy  the  evil  ?  "What  are  such  children  ? 
No  better  than  others.  Like  all  others,  they 
are  born  in  sin,  carnal  and  depraved.  They 
belong  to  the  world,  notwithstanding  their  re- 
ligious parentage,  until  they  are  called  out  of 
it  by  the  effectual  grace  of  God.  As  they 
grow  up,  they  show  themselves  to  be  of  the 
world,  living  in  accordance  with  its  principles, 
and  manifesting  the  same  sinful  and  corrupt 
nature  which  others  exhibit.  Some  of  them 
even  become  grossly  immoral.  Yet  no  notice 
is  taken  of  them  in  the  way  of  censure  or  ex- 
pulsion ;    but  they  retain   their  membership, 

1  This  must  be  understood  as  having  special  reference 
to  the  Presbyterians  of  England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland. 
It  is  not  true,  at  least  in  its  full  extent,  of  this  excel- 
lent denomination  of  Christians  in  our  own  country. — Ed. 


64  INFANT  BAPTISM  A 

into  which  they  were  brought  in  their  infancy, 
and  continue  in  it  to  the  day  of  their  death. 
And  if  this  be  not  uniting  and  keeping  the 
church  and  the  world  together,  I  know  not 
what  is.1 

The  support  which  infant  baptism  lends  to 
worldly  and  national    churches,  is  moreover 


1  Who  can  estimate  the  mischiefs  which  have  sprung 
from  such  a  union?  What  incalculable  injury  has  been 
clone  to  the  souls  of  those,  who  have  thus  been  trained  up 
in  the  persuasion,  that,  by  their  baptism  in  infancy,  they 
are  incorporated  into  the  Church  of  Christ,  invested  with 
a  special  interest  in  the  covenant  of  Grace,  and  made  the 
peculiar  objects  of  the  Divine  favor!  And  what  immense 
evils  have  thereby  been  inflicted  on  the  cause  of  the  Sa- 
viour! How  has  the  lustre  of  His  Gospel  been  dimmed, 
its  strength  weakened,  and  its  progress  delayed !  And 
how  has  His  blood-bought  Church,  ordained  by  Him  to 
be  the  fold  of  His  sheep — the  home  of  the  renewed — in 
the  world,  but  not  of  it — been  robbed  of  its  true  function, 
by  being  converted  into  a  common  receptacle  for  the  pure 
and  the  impure ;  a  great  drag-net,  inclosing  all  alike  ! 
Infant  baptism  tends  directly  to  amalgamate  the  church 
with  the  world.  It  fills  it  with  secular  elements;  sub- 
jects it  to  the  control  of  unregenerate  men ;  surrounds 
it,  where  circumstances  are  favorable,  with  civil  en- 
dowments, patronage,  and  power  ;  and  thus  transforms 
the  Bride  of  Christ  into  the  bedizened  courtesan  of  the 
State!— Ed. 


ART  AND  PILLAR  OF  POPERY.  65 

evident  from  the  fact  that  it  practically  nul- 
lifies all  the  arguments,  which  are  commonly 
adduced  to  show  their  unscriptural  character. 
It  is  said,  and  said  truly,  in  opposition  to  such 
organizations,  that  the  members  of  a  visible 
church  are  represented  in  the  New  Testament 
as  "a  spiritual  seed" — "lively  stones," — 
"  called  to  be  saints" — such  as,  in  the  judg- 
ment of  enlightened  charity,  may  be  accounted 
sincere  believers.  But  are  baptized  infants 
of  this  description?  The  holiness  attributed 
to  them,  is  only  a  federal  holiness,  and  that 
altogether  chimerical.  Are  they  saints  by 
effectual  calling?  Can  they,  on  scriptural 
grounds,  be  deemed  holy  ?  Do  they  possess 
the  qualities  which,  in  the  New  Testament,  are 
invariably  ascribed  to  church  members  ?  And 
if  they  cannot,  even  in  the  widest  charity,  be 
regarded  as  saints,  and  yet  are  admitted  by 
baptism  into  the  church,  why  may  not  others 
be  so  admitted,  of  whom  it  cannot  be  declared 
that  they  are  regenerate  persons  ? 

Besides  it  is  correctly  affirmed  by  the  Inde- 
pendents,  that  members  of  Gospel  churches 
are  not  only  such  as  have  been  called  by  the 
Spirit  of  God,  but  such  as  manifest  their  obe- 
6* 


6Q  INFANT  BAPTISM  A 

dience  to  that  calling  by  a  corresponding  pro- 
fession and  conduct ;  such,  moreover,  as  are 
known  to  each  other  by  their  confession  of 
faith  wrought  in  them  by  divine  power ;  and  ■ 
such  as  willingly  consent  to  walk  together  ac- 
cording to  the  appointment  of  Christ,  giving 
up  themselves  to  the  Lord  and  to  one  another 
by  the  will  of  God,  in  professed  subjection  to 
the  ordinances  of  the  Gospel.1  Kow  do  in- 
fants possess  this  character  ?  Do  they  evince, 
by  an  outward  profession  and  walk,  their  obe- 
dience to  a  divine  inward  call  ?  If  they  do 
not,  and  yet  are  received  as  church  members, 
why  may  not  others  be  so  received,  who  give 
no  more  evidence  than  they  do  ?  Do  they 
make  a  confession  of  faith  wrought  in  them  ? 
Does  it  appear  that  they  have  such  a  faith  ? 
And  is  a  confession  made,  and  so  made,  as  to 
be  known  by  their  fellow  members  ?  If  not, 
and  yet  they  are  received  and  owned  as  mem- 
bers, then  why  may  not  others  be  so  recog- 
nized, who  make  no  more  confession  than  they 
do  ?  Do  infants  consent  to  walk  with  the 
church  of  Christ,  and  give  up  themselves  to 

1  Savoy — Declaration,  p.  57. 


PART  AXD  PILLAR   OF  POPERY.  67 

the  Lord  and  to  one  another,  and  profess  to  be 
subject  to  the  ordinances  of  the  Gospel?  If 
they  do  not,  as  most  certainly  they  do  not,  and 
yet  are  acknowledged  as  members,  why  may 
not  others  be  acknowledged  as  members  on  the 
same  footing  ?  Is  it  objected  to  a  national 
church,  that  persons  of  the  worst  characters 
are  members  of  it,  and  that  by  this  means  the 
church  is  filled  with  men  very  disreputable 
and  scandalous  in  their  lives  ?  And  is  not  this 
true  of  those  in  congregational  churches,  who, 
admitted  as  members  in  their  infancy,  when 
grown  up  are  very  wicked  and  immoral,  and 
yet  their  membership  continues?  Why,  then, 
may  not  national  churches  be  tolerated,  not- 
withstanding the  above  objections  ?  From  all 
these  reasons,  therefore,  I  deem  myself  fully 
warranted  in  saying,  that  there  cannot  be  a 
complete  separation  of  the  church  from  the 
world,  nor  any  thorough  reformation  in  reli- 
gion, until  infant  baptism  is  wholly  removed. 


68  INFANT  BAPTISM  A 


CHAPTER   IV. 

INFLUENCE  OF  PEDOBAPTISM  ON   PROTESTANT 
CHURCHES  HISTORICALLY  DEVELOPED. 

[by  the  editor.1] 

A  SEARCHING  inquiry  into  the  effects  of  in- 
fant baptism  on  Protestant  communities,  would 
furnish  most  instructive,  though  painful  results. 
Such  an  investigation,  impartially  conducted, 
■would  soon  show,  that  this  corruption,  wher- 
ever it  is  not  restrained  by  antagonistic  causes, 
always  tends  to  Romanism,  or  to  Rationalism. 
In  some  soils,  and  under  some  influences,  it 

1  At  the  period  when  Dr.  Gill  -wrote,  the  influence  of 
Pedobaptisin  on  the  churches  of  the  Reformation  had 
only  begun  to  show  itself.  That  influence  has  since 
been  much  more  fully  manifested.  The  editor  was,  there- 
fore, requested  to  prepare  and  insert  a  chapter  on  this  sub- 
ject, containing  the  substance  of  what  we  may  well  sup- 
pose Dr.  Gill  would  have  said,  had  he  lived  in  our  day 
and  seen  what  we  have  seen.  As  the  chapter  thus  pre- 
pared is  closely  related  to  the  preceding  argument,  and 
depends  upon  it,  it  was  thought  better  to  publish  it  in 
this  connection  than  in  an  independent  form. — En. 


PART  AND  PILLAR  OF  POPERY.  69 

becomes  the  prolific  seed  of  all  that  is  most 
baleful  in  the  Papal  system.  Such  was  its 
development  in  the  ancient  church.  Germina- 
ting first  in  North  Africa ,  the  hot-bed  of  super- 
stition and  asceticism,  it  was  quickly  trans- 
planted into  Egypt,  where  it  thrived  luxuri- 
antly among  the  dreamy  speculatists  of 
Alexandria.  Thence  it  spread  throughout  the 
Eastern  and  Western  empires,  growing  up,  side 
by  side,  with  reverence  for  the  outward  and 
the  tangible  in  religion ;  the  love  of  imposing 
ceremonies  ;  the  adoration  of  saints  and  relics ; 
the  worship  of  images ;  prelatic  power,  and 
priestly  domination ;  until,  at  length,  the  Ro- 
man Hierarchy,  propped  and  buttressed  by 
infant  baptism,  cast  its  shadow  over  the  na- 
tions. 

Similar  has  been  its  tendency  in  the  Church 
of  England.  At  the  period  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, the  aspect  of  this  Church  was,  in  some 
respects,  bright  with  promise.  Her  creed  was, 
in  the  main,  eminently  evangelical.  Her  early 
teachers  were  men  of  great  scriptural  know- 
ledge, of  fervent  piety,  and  unblemished  lives. 
A  large  portion  of  her  laity  was  also  pervaded 
by  a  growing  love  for  a  pure   Gospel.     But 


70  INFANT  BAPTISM  A 

while  she  abjured  the  supremacy  of  Rome, 
abolished  the  mass,  and  purged  out  the  grosser 
abominations  of  Popery ;  yet,  by  adhering  to 
infant  baptism,  with  its  natural  concomitants, 
Episcopacy,  and  a  State-Establishment,  she 
retained  a  principle  which  was  calculated  to 
undo  all  her  work,  and  revive  within  her  own 
communion  the  most  essential  characteristics 
of  the  "Man  of  Sin."  The  sphere,  in  which 
this  insidious  leaven  was  thus  left  to  operate, 
was  particularly  fitted  to  develop  its  influence. 
The  national  mind  of  England,  either  from 
constitutional  structure,  or  the  long  schooling 
of  circumstances,  has  a  strong  papistic  ele- 
ment. Sturdy  and  independent  in  matters  of 
civil  polity,  it  evinces  a  strange  propensity  to 
be  led  in  religion.  It  bows  to  authority.  It 
trembles  before  august  names,  and  lofty  pre- 
tensions. It  is  fond  of  pomp  and  external 
show.  It  venerates  the  time-honored,  the  far- 
descended.  In  such  a  state  of  society,  infant 
baptism  found  a  congenial  home,  and  free 
scope  to  work  out  its  Popish  tendencies.  And 
how  successfully  it  has  done  so,  the  present 
religious  position  of  that  country  clearly 
shows.     The  land  which,  around  the  martyr- 


PART  AND  PILLAR  OF  POPERY.  71 

fires  of  Smithfield,  swore  eternal  hatred  to 
Popery,  is  now  full  of  Popish  dignitaries, 
Popish  priests,  and  Popish  proselytes.  The 
Church,  for  which  reformers  toiled,  and  con- 
fessors bled,  is  Papal  all  but  in  name.  There 
are,  indeed,  many  pious,  evangelical  men  still 
"within  her  pale.;  and  the  echoes  of  the  Refor- 
mation have  not  yet  wholly  died  away  in  her 
sanctuaries.  But  the  spirit  that  animates  her, 
the  impulses  which  guide  her,  the  doctrines 
and  ceremonies  which  she  best  loves,  bear 
throughout  the  unmistakable  features  of  Ro- 
manism. Shocked  by  the  introduction  of 
dogmas  and  rites,  wearing  the  abhorred  livery 
of  Antichrist,  Gospel  Truth,  and  vital  Faith, 
and  Scriptural  Piety,  are  forsaking  her  altars, 
saying,  "  Let  us  depart ;  this  is  not  our  rest  ; 
it  is  polluted."  It  is  true,  that  she  now  mani- 
fests much  alarm  and  exasperation  at  the  bold 
encroachments  of  the  Papacy,  and  is  rousing 
herself  to  resist  its  endeavors  to  get  posses- 
sion of  her  island-throne.  But  there  is  no 
opposition  to  the  principles  of  Romanism  in- 
volved in  the  struggle.  It  is  simply  a  contest 
between  two  kindred  Hierarchies,  the  one 
seeking  to  extrude  or  absorb  the  other.     It  is 


Tl  INFANT  BAPTISM  A 

the  Mother  striving  to  unseat  the  Daughter. 
The  sole  question  at  issue  is,  -whether  Pius  IX. 
or  Victoria  I.  shall  be  Pope  of  England.  The 
Pontiff  of  the  seven-hilled  City  longs  to  wrest 
the  crosier  from  the  Pontiff  of  Buckingham 
Palace ;  and  the  latter,  like  a  true  woman,  has 
no  intention  of  resigning  her  power.  Here  is 
the  whole  pith  of  the  controversy.  The 
bishops  and  clergy  of  the  English  Church, 
while  they  are  straining  every  nerve  to  pre- 
serve her  from  the  clutches  of  Rome,  have  no 
wish  to  purify  her  from  the  tenets  of  Rome. 
They  are  willing  enough  to  trade  in  Popish 
wares,  only  they  prefer  to  do  it  on  their  own 
account. 

To  such  a  state  of  lamentable  deprava- 
tion has  one  of  the  fairest  jewels  of  Pro- 
testant Christendom  been  brought  by  the  de- 
teriorating presence  of  infant  baptism.  This 
has  been  "  the  dead  fly  in  the  ointment,"  that 
has  sullied  her  purity,  and  tainted  her  fra- 
grance. This  it  is  which,  breaking  down  the 
fence  between  her  and  the  world,  and  letting 
in  upon  her  all  its  ungodliness,  has  filled  her 
once  green  and  nourishing  pastures  with  goats 
instead  of  sheep,  with  wolves  instead  of  shep- 


PART  AXD  PILLAR  OF  POPERY.  73 

herds.  This  it  is,  which  has  changed  her 
wholesome  teachings  into  soul-destroying  er- 
rors, transformed  her  worship  into  a  beggarly 
imitation  of  Popish  vanities,  and  reduced  her 
whole  Christianity  to  the  mere  observance  of 
forms  and  sacraments.  Such  a  church  may 
continue  to  be  Protestant  in  name ;  but,  in 
essence,  it  is  completely  Romanized. 

An  example  of  the  workings  of  infant  bap- 
tism in  a  direction  different,  indeed,  but 
equally  mischievous,  may  be  seen  in  the  theo- 
logical history  of  Germany.  Luther  rolled  off 
from  the  great  truths  of  the  Gospel  the  mass 
of  perversions  with  which  ages  of  Papal  dark- 
ness had  overlaid  them.  He  brought  out  into 
clear  light,  and  firmly  established  the  cardinal 
doctrines  of  Atonement,  of  Justification  by 
Faith,  of  Sanctification  by  the  Spirit.  He 
reformed  much,  but  not  enough  to  render  the 
Reformation  secure.  And  it  is  even  a  question 
whether  he  did  more  good  by  what  he  took 
away,  or  more  evil  by  what  he  allowed  to  re- 
main. In  his  ecclesiastical  system,  he  left  in- 
fant baptism,  and  infant  membership ;  thus 
opening  the  church  to  the  world,  and  uniting 
it  with  the  State.  He  either  did  not  perceive 
7 


74  INFANT  BAPTISM  A 

their  unscriptural  character,  or  deemed  them 
comparatively  harmless.  Devoting  his  whole 
strength  to  clearing  the  rubbish  from  great 
principles,  he  judged  it  of  little  importance  to 
remove  the  corruptions  of  an  outward  rite.  But 
in  this  his  wisdom  resembles  that  of  an  archi- 
tect, wTho  should  lay  a  broad  and  deep  founda- 
tion, and  erect  upon  it  a  massive  and  lofty 
structure ;  while,  at  the  same  time,  he  leaves 
unnoticed  a  small  stream  flowing  silently  be- 
neath it,  that  must  inevitably  sap  the  very 
ground  on  which  it  stands.  Thus  has  it  been 
with  the  work  of  Luther.  The  little  rill  of 
infant  baptism,  welling  out  from  its  Papal 
fountain,  has  slowly  undermined  the  fabric 
which  he  reared,  and  virtually  overturned  it. 
For  two  centuries,  indeed,  the  doctines  which 
he  taught  were  rigidly  maintained.  But  they 
were  held  merely  as  a  dead  letter — a  theologi- 
cal creed,  for  which  men  would  buckle  on  the 
armor  of  controversy,  but  which  had  no  place 
in  their  hearts,  and  no  influence  over  their 
lives.  This  could  not  last.  There  came,  at 
length,  a  change  over  the  public  mind ;  a 
breaking  away  from  old  paths  of  thought,  and 
a  reckless  pushing  into  new  ones.  The  Church 


PART  AND  PILLAR  OF  POPERY.  75 

was  ill  prepared  for  the  crisis.     She  was  tho- 
roughly secularized.     The  world  reveled  and 
rioted  in  her  bosom.     The  great  majority  of 
her   members  were    unconverted.     Even   her 
pastors    and   theological   professors   were,  in 
most  instances,  entirely  destitute  of  any  ex- 
perimental acquaintance  with  the  power  of 
Christianity.    Such  could  have  no  inward  wit- 
ness of  the  truth  of  the  Gospel,  and  no  illu- 
mination of  the  Spirit,  to  guide  them  in  their 
inquiries.     Hence,  led  by  unsanctified  reason, 
and  a  sceptical  philosophy,  they  plunged  into 
the  wildest  and  most    dangerous  speculations. 
Nothing  was  regarded  by  them   as   proved. 
Their    daring    criticism  strove    to    rend    and 
dislocate  the  Bible ;  to   show  that  large  por- 
tions of  it  were  mere  forgeries  ;  that  the  idea 
of  its  divine  inspiration  was  but  an  enthusi- 
astic dream ;  and  that  the  entire  histories  of 
our  Lord  and  of  His  Apostles  were  only  pious 
myths.  And  this  state  of  things  has  continued, 
until  the  Church  of  Luther — the  eldest  daugh- 
ter of  the  Keformation — has  now,  to  a  great 
extent,   become  a  church  of  baptized   unbe- 
lievers, crowded,  in  all  her  departments,  with 
men  who,  while  partaking  her  ordinances,  and 


76  INFANT  BAPTISM  A 

filling  her  offices,  laugh  her  doctrines  to  scorn, 
and  assail  the  authority  of  the  very  Scriptures 
from  which  they  preach.  Here  and  there,  it 
is  true,  one  of  her  sons  may  be  seen  strug- 
gling to  oppose  the  rushing  tide  of  infidelity, 
and  lifting  up  his  voice  amid  the  Babel-clamor 
of  rationalistic  sects.  But  its  tones  are  feeble 
and  uncertain  ;  he  himself  is  not  free  from  in- 
fection ;  and,  in  spite  of  his  weak  resistance, 
the  pestilence  strides  on. 

As  these  sceptical  views  are  thus  embraced 
and  advocated  by  the  appointed  expounders 
of  Christianity,  it  might  well  be  expected  that 
they  would  obtain  wide  currency  among  the 
people  themselves.  And  such  is  the  fact.  In 
Germany,  all  belong  to  the  church,  having 
been  baptized  into  it  in  their  infancy,  and  af- 
terwards confirmed  in  their  membership,  when 
old  enough  to  pronounce  the  Creed,  and  recite 
the  Catechism.  In  this  vast  and  promiscuous 
mass,  some  few  may  be  found  who  manifest 
vital  religion,  appearing,  among  the  multitude 
of  the  ungodly,  like  solitary  travellers,  walk- 
ing amidst  huo;e  catacombs  of  the  dead.  With 
the  exception  of  these,  the  entire  body  of  Ger- 
man Protestants  may  be  distributed  into  two 


PART  AXD  PILLAR  OF  POPERY.  77 

grand  classes — formalists  and  rationalists. 
The  first  profess  a  profound  veneration  for 
Lutheranisin,  as  the  religion  of  their  fathers 
and  of  their  fatherland.  They  cling,  with  su- 
perstitious tenacity,  to  its  symbols  and  formu- 
laries, and  display  a  bigoted  attachment  to  its 
ritual  observances.  This,  with  an  occasional 
attendance  at  public  worship,  and  a  participa- 
tion in  the  Lord's  supper  once  or  twice  in  their 
lives,  comprises  the  whole  of  their  Christianity. 
The  other  class,  though  still  retaining  their 
connection  with  the  church,  do  not  pretend 
even  to  a  speculative  belief  in  the  truth 
of  the  Gospel.  They  are  infidels  of  every 
type  and  color,  from  the  neologist  who  denies 
the  divine  authority  of  Revelation,  to  the  pan- 
theist who,  by  deifying  Xature,  would  annihi- 
late God.  This,  unhappily,  is  now  the  popular 
class  in  Germany. 

From  these  causes  the  most  disastrous  re- 
sults have  followed.  Real  piety  is  well  nigh 
extinct.  Worldliness,  scepticism,  and  contempt 
for  all  sacred  things,  everywhere  predominate. 
The  people  flock  to  demoralizing  and  infidel 
lectures,  while  the  temples  of  God  are  de- 
serted, and  the  Sabbath  is  turned  into  a  carni- 


78  INFANT  BAPTISM  A 

val.  The  Lutheran  Church,  once  so  living  and 
vigorous,  is  now  a  putrefying  carcass,  sending 
out  poisonous  exhalations  over  her  own  and. 
other  lands.  This  even  her  own  writers  admit. 
Tholuck, — who,  though  an  eminently  spiritual 
man,  is  yet  a  strong  advocate  for  the  ecclesi- 
astical system,  of  which  he  is  so  distinguished 
an  ornament,  and  who,  therefore,  cannot  be 
suspected  of  painting  it  in  too  dark  a  hue, — 
has  given  us  the  following  graphic  description 
of  its  present  state  and  character.  "  A  huge 
corpse — stiff,  cold,  and  livid.  What  in  many 
of  its  parts  appears  like  life,  is  but  the  life  of 
the  corruption  itself,  by  which  those  parts  are 
dissolving.  Only  here  and  there,  among  its 
dying  members,  is  there  a  living  one,  that  with 
difficulty  averts  death  from  itself,  or  seeks  to 
infuse  fresh  life  into  the  dead  portions  around 
it."1 

1  "  Einen  grossen  Leicknam — starr,  kalt  und  Heidi', 
•was  in  yielen  seiner  Glieder  als  Leben  erscheint,  es  ist 
das  Leben  der  Verwesung  selbst,  das  seine  Glieder  auf- 
lost;  nur  mitten  unter  sterbenden  Gliedern  nock  kie  und 
da  ein  lebendiges,  das  mit  Miike  den  Tod  yon  sick  ab- 
wehrt,  oder  Lebensfriscke  in  die  erstorbenen  Tkeile  tun 
sick  ker  zu  verbreiten  suckt." 

Tkoluck,  Predigten,  Band  I.  s.  25,  Hamburg,  1843. 


PART  AND  PILLAR  OF  POPERY.  Y9 

And  what  has  brought  the  Protestant  Chris- 
tianity of  Germany  into  such  a  deplorable 
condition  ?  Infant  baptism.  This,  by  throw- 
ing down  the  barrier  with  which  Christ  has 
environed  his  church,  admitting  into  her  en- 
closure the  unregenerate  and  profane,  and  even 
installing  them  in  her  seats  of  instruction,  has 
produced  all  these  direful  evils.  Will  it  be 
said,  that  in  the  present  depraved  state  of 
humanity,  communities  might  easily  be  per- 
vaded by  an  irreligious  and  infidel  spirit,  even 
if  infant  baptism  had  never  existed?  We 
grant  it.  But  then  the  destructive  element 
would  be  without  the  church — not,  as  in  this 
case,  within  it.  However  high  the  tide  of 
ungodliness  may  rise,  all  is  safe  while  the 
church  preserves  the  model  ordained  by  its 
Divine  Founder.  Planted  on  the  Rock,  against 
which  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail,  it 
presents  an  embankment  to  the  swelling 
waves,  which  breaks  their  force,  and  rolls 
them  harmless  back.  In  a  pure  church  there 
dwells  a  recuperative  power,  that  can  renovate 
the  most  degenerate  lands.  Living  and  spi- 
ritual— in  the  world,  yet  distinct  from  the 
world — it  acts  as  a  correcting  and  restoring 


80  IXFAXT  BAPTISM  A 

agent,  reproving  iniquity,  confounding  unbe- 
lief, and  holding  forth  the  word  of  life  to  a 
reckless  and  profligate  generation.  But  if  its 
own  light  become  darkness,  how  great  is  that 
darkness  !  When  the  church  itself  engenders 
the  disease,  when  its  own  bosom  is  the  fountain 
which  sends  out  the  contagion — then  the  last 
hope  disappears.  Such  a  church  cannot  be 
reformed.  It  must  be  taken  down,  and  give 
place  to  one  built  on  a  scriptural  foundation, 
or  the  land  which  its  presence  blights,  must 
sink,  beyond  recovery,  into  the  gulf  of  cor- 
ruption. 

It  may,  perhaps,  be  affirmed,  that  the  moral 
leprosy  with  which  Lutheranism  is  infected, 
has  arisen,  not  from  infant  baptism,  but  from 
certain  doctrinal  errors  in  her  creed.  To  this 
Geneva  gives  the  answer,  by  showing  that  even 
the  most  rigid  orthodoxy  cannot  long  remain 
pure,  in  connection  with  a  practice  which 
amalgamates  the  church  and  the  world.  Cal- 
vin, still  more  than  Luther,  founded  his  sys- 
tem deeply  and  broadly  on  the  fundamental 
verities  of  the  Gospel.  But,  like  Luther,  he 
left  the  initiatory  ordinance  unreformed,  and 
thus  mingled  together  the  heterogeneous  mate- 


PART  AND  PILLAE  OF  POPERY.  81 

rials  of  regenerate  and  unregenerate.  By  this 
single  oversight,  the  city  where  he  taught,  and 
which,  illuminated  by  his  doctrine,  was  once  a 
blazing  centre  of  light — a  spiritual  Pharos, 
cheering  and  guiding  the  faithful  in  all  lands 
— has  been  covered  with  the  black  night  of 
Socinianism ;  her  radiance  quenched ;  her 
voices  of  truth  hushed ;  and  the  very  pulpit  in 
which  her  adored  reformer  preached,  polluted 
by  lips  that  deny  the  divinity  of  the  Son  of 
God,  and  the  renewing  agency  of  His  Spirit. 
And  it  is  a  remarkable  fact,  and  one  which 
bears  strongly  on  the  present  discussion,  that 
the  only  bright  spot  which  now  shines  amid 
her  darkness,  was  not  kindled  by  any  succes- 
sor of  Calvin,  but  by  a  member  of  that  body 
of  Christians,  whose  prominent  peculiarity  is  a 
rejection  of  the  baptismal  dogma  which  Calvin 
inculcated.  It  was  through  the  instrumental- 
ity of  Robert  Haldane,  a  Baptist  from  Scot- 
land, that  D'Aubigne  and  his  coadjutors  were 
brought  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth,  and 
incited  to  the  holy  labor  of  proclaiming  an 
uncorrupted  Gospel.  Thus  the  solitary  fire 
that  burns  in  Geneva  was  lighted  by  a  Baptist 


82  INFANT  BAPTISM  A 

hand ;  and  even  this  infant  baptism  will  speed- 
ily extinguish,  if  it  be  not  itself  destroyed. 

But  a  still  more  striking  instance  of  the 
pernicious  effects  of  this  custom,  is  furnished 
by  the  history  of  our  own  country.  Never 
had  infant  baptism  a  fairer  field,  in  which  to 
prove  whether  there  be  any  good  in  it,  than 
among  the  Puritan  churches  of  New  England. 
The  early  founders  of  these  churches  had  cast 
off  the  fetters  of  a  tyrannical  Hierarchy  in  the 
old  world ;  and  although  they  were  not  en- 
tirely purified  from  the  mischievous  notion  of 
the  connection  of  religion  with  civil  govern- 
ment, yet  they  brought  with  them  to  their  new 
home  views  respecting  the  spiritual  nature  of 
Christian  communities,  and  the  simplicity  of 
Christian  worship,  much  more  correct  than 
those  which  were  generally  entertained  in  that 
age.  They  were  men  profoundly  read  in  the 
Scriptures,  of  great  faith  and  zeal,  and  of  ex- 
emplary holiness.  Since  the  days  of  the  Apos- 
tles, the  world  has  never  seen  a  band  of  Chris- 
tians more  pure-minded,  more  self-denied,  more 
conversant  with  heavenly  things.  Their  situ- 
ation, too,  removed  them  far  from  the  corrupt- 
ing contact  of  other  less  evangelical  societies. 


PART  AND  PILLAR  OF  POPERY.  83 

They  were  alone  in  the  wilderness,  with  them- 
selves, their  offspring,  and  their  God.  Surely 
then,  if  infant  baptism  could  ever  "  cease  to 
do  evil,  and  learn  to  do  well,"  it  would  have 
been  here.  Let  us,  then,  trace  its  workings  in 
this  secluded  position. 

The  original  colonists  of  New  England  held 
that  the  visible  church  of  Christ  consisted 
of  professed  believers  and  their  infant  seed  ; 
that  the  latter  being  born  in  the  church,  had 
a  right  to  baptism ;  and  that,  from  their  rela- 
tion to  the  church,  they  were  subject  to  its 
watch  and  discipline.  This  relation,  however, 
was  regarded  as  a  modified  one,  not  entitling 
the  baptized  child  to  the  full  privileges  of 
membership,  and  to  a  participation  in  the 
Lord's  supper,  until  he  should  give  evidence 
of  genuine  conversion.  The  anomalous  state 
in  which  their  offspring  were  thus  placed — 
neither  in  the  church  nor  out  of  it — greatly 
troubled  these  excellent  men,  as  it  ever  has 
and  ever  will  all  who  hold  such  unscriptural 
notions.  In  process  of  time,  the  children  of 
the  first  settlers  grew  up,  and  became  them- 
selves heads  of  families.  Many  of  these  still 
remained  unregenerate.     It  was,  therefore,  a 


84  IXFAXT  BAPTISM  A 

very  nice  and  perplexing  matter  to  determine 
the  true  position,  with  respect  to  the  church, 
of  those  who,  having  been  baptized  in  infancy, 
did  not  manifest  repentance  and  faith  on  their 
arrival  at  adult  years.  Equally  difficult  was 
it  to  settle  the  point  whether  the  children  of 
such  ought  to  be  baptized.  These  questions 
occasioned  much  solicitude,  and  called  forth 
not  a  little  discussion,  throughout  the  colonies. 
The  diversity  of  opinion,  and  consequent  agi- 
tation, at  length  became  so  great,  that,  by 
the  request  of  the  magistrates  of  Connecticut, 
the  controverted  subjects  were  laid  before  an 
assembly  of  ministers  convened  at  Boston, 
June  4, 1657.  After  deliberating  fifteen  days, 
they  gave  the  following  decision  :  "  That  it  is 
the  duty  of  infants  who  confederate  in  their 
parents,  when  grown  up  to  years  of  discretion, 
though  not  yet  fit  for  the  Lord's  supper,  to 
own  the  covenant  which  they  made  with  their 
parents,  by  entering  into  it  in  their  own  per- 
sons. And  it  is  the  duty  of  the  church  to  call 
upon  them  for  the  performance  thereof;  and 
if,  being  called  upon,  they  shall  refuse  the 
performance  of  this  great  duty,  or  otherwise 
continue  scandalous,  they  are  liable  to  be  cen* 


PART  AND  PILLAR  OF  POPERY.  85 

fared  for  the  same  by  the  church.  And  in 
case  they  understand  the  grounds  of  religion, 
and  are  not  scandalous,  and  solemnly  own  the 
covenant  in  their  own  persons,  wherein  they 
give  up  both  themselves  and  their  children 
unto  the  Lord,  and  desire  baptism  for  them, 
we  see  not  sufficient  cause  to  deny  baptism 
unto  their  children."1 

This  decision  was  not  received  with  entire 
unanimity.  Many  looked  upon  it  as  an  inno- 
vation, calculated  to  lead  to  very  evil  con- 
sequences. The  disputes  and  contentions  re- 
specting it  grew  at  last  to  be  so  violent,  that  a 
General  Synod  was  deemed  necessary,  in  or- 
der to  secure  peace  and  uniformity  of  practice 
in  the  churches.  Such  a  body,  called  by  the 
order  of  the  General  Court,  met  at  Boston,  in 
the  year  1662.  In  due  time,  the  fruits  of 
their  wisdom  appeared  in  the  shape  of  the  fol- 
lowing Propositions. 

1.  "  They  that,  according  to  Scripture,  are 
members  of  the  visible  church  are  the  subjects 
of  baptism. 

2.  The  members  of  the  visible  church,  ac- 
cording to  Scripture,  are  confederate  believers, 

1  Mather's  Magnalia,  Book  V.  p.  63. 


86  INFANT  BAPTISM  A 

in  particular  churches,  and  their  infant  seed, 
that  is,  children  in  their  minority,  whose  next 
parents,  one  or  both,  are  in  covenant. 

3.  The  infant  seed  of  confederate  visibl-e 
believers  are  members  of  the  same  church  with 
their  parents,  and  when  grown  up  are  person- 
ally under  the  watch,  discipline  and  govern- 
ment of  that  church. 

4.  These  adult  persons  are  not 'therefore  to 
be  admitted  to  full  communion,  merely  because 
they  are,  and  continue  to  be  members,  without 
such  further  qualifications  as  the  word  of  God 
requireth  thereto. 

5.  Church  members  who  were  admitted  in 
minority,  understanding  the  doctrine  of  faith, 
and  publicly  professing  their  assent  thereto, 
not  scandalous  in  life,  and  solemnly  owning 
the  covenant  before  the  church,  wherein  they 
give  up  themselves  and  their  children  to  the 
Lord,  and  subject  themselves  to  the  govern- 
ment of  Christ  in  the  church,  their  children 
are  to  be  baptized."1 

These  propositions  having  been  submitted 
to  the  General  Court,  an  order  was  passed  by 
it,  October  8,  1662,  commending  them  to  all 

1  Mather's  Magnalia,  Book  V.  p.  64. 


PART  AND  PILLAR  OF  POPERY.  87 

the  churches  in  the  jurisdiction.1  Thus  backed 
by  the  civil  authority,  the  decision  of  the  Sy- 
nod was  soon  generally  acquiesced  in  by  the 
Kew  England  churches. 

In  this  manner  arose  the  celebrated  "  Half- 
YTay  Covenant,"  according  to  which,  persons 
making  no  profession  of  a  change  of  heart,  if 
they  only  exhibited  a  fair  outward  morality, 
were  permitted  and  required,  on  the  ground  of 
their  baptism  in  infancy,  to  appear  before 
the  church,  recognize  their  connection  with  it, 
acknowledge  their  covenant  obligations,  and 
bring  their  children  to  baptism.  Thus  was 
the  door  opened  to  let  the  world  into  the 
church.  Thus,  within  about  forty  years  after 
the  landing  of  the  Pilgrims,  and  while  the  patri- 
archs of  the  May-Flower  were  scarcely  dead, 
the  original  strictness  of  their  discipline  was 
so  far  changed  as  to  admit  an  arrangement, 
which  virtually  effaces  the  separating  line  be- 
tween the  holy  and  the  unholy,  between  the 
conscious  subjects  of  renewing  grace,  and  the 
votaries  of  earthliness  and  sin.  And  this  rapid 
deterioration  was  caused  by  infant  baptism. 
Had  it  not  been  for  its  existence  and  influ- 

1  Mather's  Magnalia,  Book  V.  p.  64. 


88  IXrAXT  BAPTISM  A 

ence,  the  offspring  of  believers,  while  unrege- 
nerate,  would  have  been  viewed  as  belonging, 
where  they  actually  do  belong,  to  "  them  that 
are  without;"  as  sustaining  no  relation  to  the 
church  different  from  that  of  other  impenitent 
persons ;  and  as  deriving  from  their  religious 
parentage  only  the  privilege — a  precious  one 
indeed — of  being  the  special  objects  of  Chris- 
tian solicitude,  instruction,  and  prayer.  But 
as  such  children  were  supposed,  in  consequence 
of  their  baptism,  to  hold  some  undefined  and 
impalpable  place  in  the  church,  the  inconsis- 
tency of  so  regarding  them,  and  yet  practi- 
cally treating  them  as  in  the  world,  greatly 
disturbed  these  Puritan  Fathers,  as  it  has  their 
descendants  ever  since.  Hence  they  devised 
a  plan  by  which  baptized  adults,  who  were  still 
unconverted,  might  be  brought  away  from  the 
court  of  the  Gentiles,  and  be  made,  at  least, 
to  confess  themselves  proselytes  of  the  gate. 
Another  reason  which  led  them  to  this  course, 
was  the  erroneous  idea  which  they  entertained 
— an  idea  growing  out  of  infant  baptism — 
that  it  was  the  particular  appointment  of  God 
to  perpetuate  his  kingdom  on  earth  by  heredi- 
tary descent.    When,  therefore,  they  saw  their 


PART  AND  PILLAR  OF  POPERY.  89 

children  arriving  at  maturity,  anil  becoming 
themselves  parents,  without  possessing  that 
spiritual  character  which  would  fit  them  to 
take  their  place  at  the  Lord's  table,  they  be- 
came greatly  alarmed  for  the  continuance  of 
religion  in  future  times.1  To  guard  against  this 
danger,  they  resolved  that  their  sons  and  daugh- 
ters, if  not  prepared  to  make  a  full  profession, 
should,  at  any  rate,  make  half  of  one,  and  so 
far  own  the  covenant  as  to  bring  their  infants 
within  it ;  in  this  manner  serving  as  a  sort  of 
intermediate  conductors  to  convey  the  faith 
of  the  grand  parents  to  the  grand  children, 
and  thus  securing  the  transmission  of  grace  to 
posterity. 

The  corrupt  principle  contained  in  this 
measure,  and  the  evils  which  resulted  from  it, 
cannot  be  described  more  forcibly  than  they 
have  been  by  the  eloquent  Dr.  Wisner,  who,  as 
a  Pedobaptist,  cannot  be  supposed  to  have  over- 
drawn the  picture.  "  Persons  were  permitted 
to  come  and  make,  in  the  most  solemn  circum- 
stances, the  most  solemn  of  all  professions, 
when  they  did  not  regard  themselves,  and  were 
not  regarded  by  others,  as  having   at   all  in 

1  Mather's  Magnalia,  Book  V.  p.  C3. 
ft* 


90  INFANT  BAPTISM  A 

heart  given  themselves  away  to  God,  and 
trusted  in  Christ,  and  yielded  themselves  up 
to  be  the  temples  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  And  as 
to  the  promises  which  were  annexed,  of  ediir 
eating  children  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  and 
submitting  to  the  discipline  of  the  church,  on 
the  one  hand,  and  of  watchful  care  on  the 
other,  they  too  soon  came  to  be  alike  disre- 
garded, both  by  those  who  exacted  and  by 
those  who  made  them.  Parents  did  not,  and 
soon  were  not  expected,  to  fulfill  their  engage- 
ments, in  form  so  solemn  and  significant ;  and 
churches  did  not,  and  soon  were  not  expected 
to  fulfill  theirs.  Thus  the  most  solemn  and 
impressive  acts  of  religion  came  to  be  regarded 
as  unmeaning  ceremonies ;  the  form  only  to 
be  thought  important,  while  the  substance  was 
overlooked,  and  rapidly  passing  away."1 

It  was  not  to  be  expected  that  the  evil 
would  stop  here.  The  progress  Ox  degeneracy 
is  ever  more  decided  and  rapid,  the  longer  it 
continues.  It  is  like  the  letting  out  of  im- 
prisoned waters,  which  rush  along  with  a  force 
and  volume  constantly  increasing.  Accordingly, 
the  same  writer  thus  graphically  records  the 

1  Wisner's  History  of  the  Old  South  Cliurch. 


PART  AND   PILLAR  OF  POPERY.  91 

consequences  to  which  it  soon  led.  "  And  now 
another  and  still  more  fatal  step  was  taken  in 
this  downward  course.  Why  should  such  a 
difference  be  made  between  the  two  Christian 
sacraments,  which  reason  infers  from  the  na- 
ture of  the  case,  and  the  Scriptures  clearly 
determine,  require  precisely  the  same  qualifi- 
cations ?  If  persons  were  qualified  to  make, 
in  order  to  come  to  one  ordinance,  the  very 
same  profession,  both  in  meaning  and  in  terms, 
required  to  come  to  the  other,  why  should  they 
be  excluded  from  that  other  ?  The  practical 
result,  every  one  sees,  would  be,  that  if  the 
innovation  already  made  were  not  abandoned, 
another  would  speedily  be  introduced.  And 
such  was  the  fact.  Correct  moral  deportment, 
with  a  profession  of  correct  doctrinal  opinions, 
and  a  desire  for  regeneration,  came  to  be  re- 
garded as  the  only  qualification  for  admission 
to  the  communion.  This  innovation,  though 
not  as  yet  publicly  advocated  by  any,  there 
is  conclusive  proof  had  become  quite  extensive 
in  practice  previously  to  1679.  The  churches 
soon  came  to  consist  very  considerably,  in 
many  places,  of  unregenerate  persons — of 
those  who  regarded  themselves,  and  were  re- 


VZ  INFANT  BAPTISM  A 

gardcd  by  others,   as  unregenerate.     Of  all 

these  tilings  the  consequence  was,  that  within 
thirty  years  after  the  commencement  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  a  large  portion  of  the 
clergy,  through  the  country,  were  either  only 
speculatively  correct,  or  to  some  extent  actually 
erroneous  in  their  religious  opinions,  maintain- 
ing regularly  the  forms  of  religion,  but  in 
some  instances  having  well  nigh  lost,  and  in 
others,  it  is  to  be  feared,  having  never  felt,  its 
power."1 

To  such  a  state  had  the  Puritan  churches  of 
New  England  been  brought  by  infant  baptism, 
within  a  single  century.  Silently  but  surely 
it  had  done  its  work,  sapping  successively  the 
safeguards  of  truth  and  purity,  until  by  the 
abandonment  of  the  principle,  that  none  but 
"  living  stones  "  should  be  incorporated  into 
the  house  of  God,  the  last  defence  gave  way, 
and  a  torrent  of  corruption  flowed  in.  The 
world  emptied  itself  into  the  church.  There 
was,  in  fact,  no  longer  any  world.  It  was  all 
church.  Everywhere  men  avowedly  uncon- 
verted belonged  to  her  communion,  presided 
over  her  interests,  served  at  her  altars.    "With 

1  VTisner's  History,  etc. 


PART  AXD  PILLAR  OF  POPERY.  93 

a  membership  and  ministry  thus  alike  carnal, 
it  was  not  to  be  supposed  that  she  would  re- 
tain, for  any  length  of  time,  even  a  theoretical 
belief  in  the  grand  teachings  of  revelation. 
These,  however,  were  not  at  once  repudiated. 
The  forms  of  faith,  which  have  become  fixed 
in  a  community,  do  not  suddenly  pass  away. 
Truth  leaves  the  heart  and  the  lips  long  before 
it  leaves  the  creed.  For  a  considerable  period, 
therefore,  a  dead,  leaden  orthodoxy  hung  over 
New  England,  hiding,  like  a  shroud,  the  rot- 
tenness beneath.  But  this  could  not  continue. 
An  incipient  change  began  to  be  perceived. 
The  distinguishing  doctrines  of  the  Gospel 
were  not,  indeed,  denounced  and  opposed. 
They  were  pass-ed  over.  While  still  keeping 
their  place  in  Confessions  and  Articles,  they 
were  quietly  dismissed  from  the  Pulpit,  to 
make  room  for  moral  essays,  and  panegyrics 
on  the  beauty  of  natural  virtue.  The  down- 
ward process,  having  gone  thus  far,  must  go 
farther.  Men  are  never  satisfied  with  what  is 
merely  negative.  They  demand  the  positive  ; 
and  when  once  they  have  discarded  positive 
truth,  their  next  step  is  to  embrace  positive 
error.     Hence,  we  find  that  as  early  as  the 


94  INFANT  BAPTISM  A 

middle  of  the  last  century,  opinions  involving 
a  denial  of  the  proper  divinity  of  Christ,  the 
depravity  of  human  nature,  the  need  of  atone- 
ment, and  the  work  of  the  Spirit  in  regenera- 
tion, were  extensively  adopted  in  Massachu- 
setts. Advocated  at  first  by  some  prominent 
ministers  of  Boston,  they  spread  for  fifty  years 
through  the  country,  pervading  the  graceless 
clergy  and  the  still  more  graceless  laity ;  until, 
the  season  of  incubation  having  expired,  the 
monstrous  egg  broke  at  last,  and  the  great 
Unitarian  Apostacy  stood  revealed  in  all  its 
hideousness. 

Now,  we  affirm  that  this  most  disastrous 
consummation  was  the  direct  result  of  infant 
baptism.  It  was  the  product  of  a  series  of 
agencies  of  which  infant  baptism  was  the  be- 
ginning and  author.  Its  proximate  cause  is 
doubtless  to  be  found  in  the  practices  growing 
out  of  the  half  way  Covenant.  But  what  ori- 
ginated the  half  way  Covenant  ?  "Would  this 
strange  device  have  ever  seen  the  light,  had  it 
not  been  for  the  illicit  union  of  the  church 
with  infant  baptism  ?  Do  not  all  the  writers 
of  that  period  expressly  declare,  that  its  sole 
purpose  was  to  induce  irreligious  parents,  who 


PART  AND  PILLAR   OF  POPERY.  95 

had  been  baptized  in  infancy,  to  make  a 
formal  recognition  of  the  covenant,  so  that 
their  children  might  be  brought  to  the  font, 
and  thus  infant  baptism  be  perpetuated  ? 
"Without  infant  baptism,  such  a  measure  would 
never  have  been  dreamed  of,  nor  could  the 
slightest  pretence  have  been  set  up  for  its 
adoption.  Infant  baptism,  then,  we  say  again, 
is  the  original  and  real  parent  of  New  Eng- 
land TJnitariamsm. 

And  as  in  Geneva,  so  here,  the  first  check 
given  to  the  rampant  heresy  came  from  those 
who  had  never  acknowledged  Pedobaptism. 
When  the  banner  of  an  insulted  Christ  lay 
soiled  and  trampled  in  the  dust,  the  venerated 
Stillman  and  Baldwin  caught  it  up,  and  wav- 
ing it  abroad  in  the  breeze,  sent  the  war-cry 
of  Immanuel  echoing  over  all  the  hills  and 
vallies  of  New  England  ;  until  the  few,  "  faith- 
ful found  among  the  faithless,"  had  time  to 
rally  and  make  head  against  the  overwhelming 
defection.  A  Pedobaptist  historian  very  can- 
didly informs  us,  that  "  at  the  beginning  of 
the  present  century,  all  the  Congregational 
churches  in  Boston,  with  a  single  exception, 
had  renounced  the  faith  of  the  Puritans.    The 


96  INFANT  BAPTISM  A 

Old  South. still  stood  upon  the  platform  of  the 
fathers,  though  her  pastor  was  a  semi-Arian. 
But  when  the  enemy  came  in  like  a  flood,  the 
Loid  lifted  up  a  standard  against  him.  In  the 
year  1803,  the  Baptist  churches  in  the  city 
were  visited  with  a  precious  revival,  in  which 
the  Old  South  shared  to  some  extent."1  A  few 
of  the  members  of  this  Church,  occasionally 
worshipping  with  the  Baptists,  became  revived, 
and  established  a  prayer  meeting  among  them- 
selves ;  from  which  a  renovating  movement 
commenced,  that  has  been  the  origin  of  all  the 
Orthodox  Congregational  Churches  with  which 
the  City  of  the  Pilgrims  is  now  blessed.  Thus 
when  infant  baptism  had  put  out  the  fire  on  all 
its  own  altars,  with  the  exception  of  one  solitary 
shrine,  and  had  caused  it  even  there  to  burn 
dim  and  low  ;  the  flame  was  kindled  again  from 
altars  which  this  unscriptural  rite  had  never 
been  suffered  to  profane.  And  while,  amid  the 
Egyptian  darkness  that  settled  down  over  the 
Pedobaptists  in  Boston,  the  Baptists,  in  their 
Goshen   at   the  North  End,2  thus  walked  in 

1  Moore's  Boston  Revivals,  p.  28. 

2  The  part  of  the  city  in  which  the  Baptist  churches 
were  located. 


PART  AND  PILLAR  OF  POPERY.  97 

unclouded  light,  and  showed  themselves  valiant 
for  the  truth ;  so,  throughout  the  land,  feeble 
and  scattered  as  they  were,  they  stood  firm  by 
the  cause  of  their  Master.  Though  thousands 
around  were  casting  off  the  authority  of  Jesus, 
not  a  man  of  them  wavered  in  his  allegiance. 
From  all  their  places  of  worship  the  ensign  of 
the  cross  streamed  out  undepressed  and  un- 
tarnished ;  and  from  all  their  pulpits  the  God- 
head of  Christ,  and  the  sovereign  eflicacy  of 
His  blood,  were  distinctly  and  earnestly  pro- 
claimed. To  the  memory  of  these  brave- 
hearted  men  justice  may  never  be  done  in  this 
world.  But  we  doubt  not,  that  in  the  great 
day  of  decision,  when  all  events  and  instru- 
mentalities shall  be  placed  in  their  true  light, 
it  will  appear  that  to  the  Baptists  of  Massa- 
chusetts belongs  the  honor  of  having  been  the 
first  to  arrest  the  overflowing  scourge ;  that 
they  were  the  Abdiels  who  remained  faithful 
in  the  midst  of  revolted  multitudes ;  that  it 
was  they,  who,  when  all  seemed  lost,  threw 
themselves,  single-handed,  into  the  van  of  the 
battle,  and  held  the  field  against  fearful  odds, 
until,  behind  their  sheltering  front,  the  broken 
ranks  of  Orthodoxy  were  formed  anew.  Peace 
9 


98  INFANT  BAPTISM  A 

to  the  ashes  of  these  Christian  heroes !  May 
their  names  and  their  deeds  be  precious  to 
New  England,  as  they  are  already  blessed  in 
heaven  ! 

The  great  facts,  which  have  been  thus 
briefly  reviewed,  are  full  of  instruction.  They 
teach  us,  with  the  truth  and  certainty  of  his- 
tory, that  infant  baptism,  whenever  operating 
without  restraint,  will  inevitably  corrupt  the 
communities  that  uphold  it.  Either,  by  intro- 
ducing the  dogma  of  baptismal  regeneration, 
and  attributing  saving  virtue  to  outward  forms, 
it  will  develop  itself  into  essential  Romanism  ; 
or,  by  admitting  the  unregenerate  into  the 
church,  and  joining  together  what  God  has 
put  asunder,  it  will  prepare  the  way  for  a 
dead  and  soulless  Faith,  soon  to  be  quickened 
into  a  living  Infidelity.  Whichever  direction 
it  takes,  and  in  whatever  shape  its  influence  is 
displayed,  it  is  "  evil,  only  evil,  and  that  con- 
tinually." We  cannot  but  regard  it  as  the 
most  pernicious  heresy  which  has  ever  sullied 
the  primitive  simplicity  of  the  Gospel.  We  are 
constrained  to  believe,  that,  directly  or  indi- 
rectly, it  has  done  more  than  all  other  cor- 
ruptions combined,  to  pollute  Christianity,  to 


PART  AND  PILLAR  OF  POPERY.  99 

enfeeble  her  power,  and  to  keep  back  the  hour 
of  her  final  triumph.  It  is,  in  fact,  the  origin 
of  most  of  these  corruptions, — the  source  from 
which  they  have  sprung,  and  by  which  they 
are  constantly  fed.  In  a  word,  we  look  upon 
it  as  the  most  dangerous  element  that  now 
exists  in  the  Church.  And  it  is  all  the  more 
dangerous  from  the  slow  and  insidious  manner 
in  which  it  accomplishes  its  results.  Were  it 
to  stand  out  in  open  day,  with  its  real  nature 
and  tendencies  fully  revealed,  the  whole  host 
of  God's  people  would  rise  up  to  banish 
it  from  the  earth.  But  it  acts  silently  and 
covertly,  reaching  its  ends  by  steps  so  circuit- 
ous, and  by  a  progress  so  imperceptible,  that 
the  consequences  are  not  seen  till  the  catas- 
trophe comes ;  and  even  then  they  are  refer- 
red, not  to  the  primal  cause,  but  to  some  one 
of  the  intermediate  agencies  which  it  has  set 
in  motion. 

To  the  views  here  expressed  it  may  be  ob- 
jected, that  there  are  several  denominations  of 
Christians  in  this  country,  who  practice  infant 
baptism,  and  yet  maintain  evangelical  senti- 
ments, and  exhibit  an  evangelical  spirit.  This 
is  cheerfully  admitted.     Nevertheless,  it  does 


100  INFANT  BAPTISM  A 

not  shake  our  confidence  in  the  soundness  of 
the  position  we  have  taken.  In  these  deno- 
minations, infant  baptism  is  not  allowed  it3 
free  and  natural  development.  It  is  restricted 
and  hemmed  in  by  a  counteracting  power. 
And  this  power  goes  out  from  the  Baptist 
Churches.  While  claiming  no  superiority  over 
their  evangelical  sisters,  in  general  correct- 
ness of  doctrine,  or  purity  of  Christian  char- 
acter ;  they  do  claim — and  Scripture  sustains 
the  claim — that,  on  the  particular  subject  of 
baptism,  they  alone  hold  the  truth  ;  and  what 
they  firmly  believe,  they  fearlessly  declare. 
By  their  constantly  increasing  numbers  ;  by 
their  almost  universal  diffusion ;  by  the  scrip- 
tural and  even  self-evident  nature  of  their 
principles, — a  wide  public  opinion  has  been 
created  unfavorable  to  infant  baptism.  This 
prevailing  sentiment  acts  not  on  Baptists 
alone  ;  nor  on  those  only  who  are  immediately 
under  their  influence.  It  affects  all  classes. 
It  penetrates  even  the  guarded  inclosure  of 
Pedobaptist  churches,  producing  an  uncon- 
fessed,  but  ever  active  distrust  of  an  institu- 
tion, to  which  the  Bible  lends  no  sanction. 
This  is  shown  by  the  sad   complainings  which 


PART  AXD  PILLAR  OF  POPERY.  101 

are  utterred  in  certain  quarters,  respecting 
the  diminution  in  the  number  of  baptized 
children,  and  the  difficulty  of  persuading  pa- 
rents to  comply  with  a  custom,  for  which  they 
can  find  neither  precept  nor  example  in  the 
Word  of  God.  In  some  sections,  indeed,  the 
practice  seems  rapidly  falling  in  desuetude. 
And  were  ministers  and  theological  teachers 
to  cease  striving  to  uphold,  by  their  bare  au- 
thority, a  rite  which  they  never  have  proved, 
and  never  can  prove,  to  be  of  divine  appoint- 
ment, the  masses  would  soon  lay  it  aside  alto- 
gether. 

Thus  circumscribed  and  impeded,  infant 
baptism  does  not  display  its  full  character  and 
tendency.  Born  in  the  twilight  of  supersti- 
tion, it  puts  forth  all  its  energies  for  evil  only 
when  surrounded  by  its  native  element.  Un- 
der the  noon-day  of  truth  which  Baptists  are 
now  pouring  upon  it,  its  eyes  are  dazzled ;  it 
becomes  torpid ;  its  huge  limbs  shrivel  up  ;  it 
assumes  the  shrunken  form  of  a  mere  act  of 
"symbolic  dedication;"  even  some  of  its 
friends  begin  to  treat  it  as  a  small  affair,  and 
almost  to  ignore  it. 

Yet,  even  in  this  shorn  and  crippled  state,  it 


102  INFANT  BAPTISM  A 

is  neither  dead  nor  harmless.     It  must,  under 
any  circumstances,  operate  as  a  fatal  injury, 
or  a  gross  injustice,  to  those  on  whom  it  is  ad- 
ministered.   If,  as  they  grow  up,  it  lead  them, 
as  it  naturally  may,  to  suppose  themselves  in 
a  peculiar  relation  to  God,  bearing  the  seal  of 
His  covenant,  and  set    apart    as  His  special 
property ;  it  will  inevitably  render   them   se- 
cure in  their  impenitence,  under  the  persuasion 
that  by  virtue  of  their  baptism  they  shall  cer- 
tainly obtain  grace  at  last ;  and  thus  it  will 
prove   the  direct  means   of  their   everlasting 
destruction.     Or  if,  in  spite  of  this  delusive 
impression,  the  divine  Spirit  should  reach  their 
hearts,  convince  them  of  their  lost  condition, 
and  bring  them  to  Christ ;  then  it  will  act  as 
an   unrighteous  bond  to  withhold  them  from 
duty.     A  ceremony,   in  which  they  bore   no 
conscious  share  ;  vows,  made  by  others  in  their 
name,  without   their  consent  or  knowledge — 
will  be  urged  as  arguments  to  prevent  them 
from  obeying  the  plain  command  of  the  Sa- 
viour, first  to  believe,  and  then  to  be  baptized. 
In  both  these  cases,  infant  baptism  is   a  fla- 
grant wrong.     In  the  one,  it  is  a  snare  to  the 
soul ;  in  the  other,  a  trap  to  the  conscience. 


PART  AXD  PILLAR  OF  POPERY.  103 

But  this  is  not  the  only  evil  which  it  is  pro- 
ducing, at  the  present  day,  among  the  Pedo- 
baptist  communities  of  our  own  land.  In 
some  directions,  its  old  Popish  leaven  is  busily 
working.  Already,  through  its  operation,  a 
large  portion  of  the  Episcopal  denomination 
has  become  essentially  Romanized,  both  in 
spirit  and  in  practice.  And  in  certain  sections 
of  the  Presbyterian  body,  views  are  advanced 
with  respect  to  its  efficacy,  and  the  moral  po- 
sition of  its  subjects,  which  involve  the  very 
germ  of  Popery.  No — infant  baptism  has  not 
lost  its  venom  under  the  bright  sun  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  and  in  the  free  air  of  re- 
publican America.  And  if  it  does  not,  at  last, 
render  this  country  Papal  or  infidel,  it  will  be 
owing,  under  God,  to  the  resistance  it  meets 
with  from  the  Baptist  churches.  Let  their 
light  be  withdrawn,  and  a  few  generations 
would  see  our  now  broad  and  happy  land 
covered  with  spiritual  darkness,  rotting  be- 
neath the  stagnant  waters  of  Formalism,  or 
swept  by  the  wild  waves  of  a  God-denying 
Liberalism. 

One  more  great  truth  has  been  evolved  by 
our  inquiries.  It  is,  that  when  Christian  bodies, 


104  INFANT  BAPTISM  A 

retaining  infant  baptism,  become  corrupt,  they 
have  no  inherent  power  to  throw  off  the  con- 
taminating influence,  and  spring  forth  into 
new  life.  If  a  church,  built  on  the  apostoli- 
cal basis  of  admitting  to  membership  only  the 
avowedly  regenerate,  should  in  procees  of  time 
be  debased  by  the  intrusion  of  secular  ingre- 
dients, it  has  the  element  of  restoration  within 
itself.  The  remedy  lies  in  a  recurrence  to  its 
own  first  principles ;  in  the  enforcement  of 
that  fundamental  law  of  its  constitution,  which 
requires,  that  God's  spiritual  house  should  be 
composed  of  spiritual  materials  alone.  But  it 
is  widely  different  with  a  Pedobaptist  church. 
It  can  derive  no  help  from  a  resort  to  its  first 
principles.  These  first  principles  have  done 
all  the  mischief.  The  regarding  it  as  an  ele- 
mentary rule,  that  the  church  of  Christ  con- 
sists of  believers  and  their  unconverted  seed, 
thus  mingling  together  the  "  lively  stones  "  of 
the  sanctuary,  and  "  the  wood,  hay,  and  stub- 
ble "  of  the  world — has  been  the  very  well- 
spring  of  the  corruption  which  overspreads  it. 
How,  then,  can  it  put  away  this  corruption, 
while  its  source  remains  ?  Such  a  result  is 
clearly  impossible.   It  may  manifest  occasional 


PART  AXD  PILLAR  OF  POPERY.  105 

amendment.  There  may  be  in  its  history  in- 
tervals of  revival  and  of  comparative  purity. 
But  they  will  be  partial  and  evanescent.  The 
same  prolific  fountain  will  continue  to  send  out 
its  streams  to  deluge  and  pollute  it  anew.  For 
such  a  church  there  is  no  alternative  but  to  re- 
nounce its  first  principles,  and  adopt  the  plat- 
form of  the  Bible,  or  sink,  at  length,  in  irre- 
claimable degeneracy.  The  history  of  the  world 
does  not  furnish  an  instance  of  a  Pedobap- 
tist  church,  remaining  such,  that  has  radically 
and  permanently  reformed  itself.  The  Church 
of  England  has  not  done  it,  and  never  can  do 
it.  She  must  cease  her  unholy  alliance  with 
the  State  ;  she  must  cease  to  admit  to  her  com- 
munion the  worldly  and  the  profane  ;  in  other 
words,  she  must  cease  to  be  Pedobaptist — 
cease  to  be  herself — and  be  transmuted  into  a 
new,  spiritual  church,  modeled  according  to 
the  pattern  of  the  Gospel — before  the  Spirit 
of  Holiness  will  revisit  her  tabernacles.  The 
Church  of  Germany  has  not  done  it,  and  never 
can  do  it.  All  the  learning,  and  piety,  and 
zeal  of  the  noble  band  of  evangelical  men, 
that  are  now  rising  up  in  her  midst,  will  never 
dispel  the  gangrene  from  her  vitals,  unless  the 


106 


INFANT  BAPTISM  A 


cause  be  removed,  by  the  removal  of  infant 
baptism,  and  its  attendant  evils.  There  may 
be,  in  particular  spots,  signs  of  spasmodic 
life  ;  and  here  and  there  individuals  may  be- 
found  who  appear  truly  awake  to  the  concerns 
of  eternity.  But  over  the  great  body  of  her 
communion,  Death  will  still  reign  in  all  the 
intensity  of  its  power.  It  is  not  from  a 
church  so  sunk  in  the  mire  of  secularity,  that 
the  redemption  of  Germany  is  to  come.  The 
day  of  that  redemption  is  indeed  dawning ; 
but  its  beams  emanate  not  from  the  lecture- 
rooms  of  the  universities,  nor  from  the  pulpits 
of  endowed  cathedrals.  It  is  from  the  little 
companies  of  baptized  believers,  gathered  by 
Oncken,  and  Kobner,  and  Lehmann,  that  there 
goes  forth  over  the  land  of  Luther  and  Me- 
lancthon,  the  mornina;  li^rht  of  a  second  Refor- 
mation  ;  a  Reformation  which  shall  be  com- 
plete, as  the  first  was  partial,  and  which  shall 
overthrow  the  citadel  of  darkness,  as  that  did 
its  outworks.  So  it  has  been,  and  so  it  will 
be  ever.  The  records  of  every  century  since 
infant  baptism  arose,  corroborate  the  state- 
ment, that  communities,  plunged  by  it  into 
moral  decay,  never  recover  by  any  impulse 


PART  AND  PILLAR  OF  POPERY.  107 

from  within.  The  energy,  which  shall  fully 
reanimate  them,  must  come  from  without ;  and 
even  then  the  result  can  be  perfectly  secured, 
only  by  taking  their  whole  frame-work  in 
pieces,  and  reconstructing  it  on  a  scriptural 
basis. 

For  evangelical  Pedobaptists,  of  whatever 
name,  we  cherish  the  most  fraternal  feelings. 
We  salute  them  as  brethren  in  Christ.  We 
know  them  to  be  devoted,  heart  and  soul,  to 
the  same  holy  Cause,  in  which  we  humbly  toil. 
We  believe  that  they  desire,  with  a  sincerity 
and  earnestness  unsurpassed  by  our  own,  the 
abolition  of  every  form  of  superstition  and 
unbelief,  and  the  spread  of  a  pure  Gospel 
throughout  the  earth.  But,  at  the  same  time, 
we  are  solemnly  convinced,  that  so  long  as 
they  cling  to  infant  baptism,  they  can  never 
see  these  ends  entirely  accomplished.  How 
can  they  hope  to  demolish  Romanism,  while 
they  strive  to  perpetuate,  in  their  own  organi- 
zations, the  very  key-stone  of  its  whole  sys- 
tem; the  chief  instrument  which  brought  it 
into  being,  and  which  will  inevitably  build  it 
up  again,  the  same  in  substance,  if  not  in 
name  ?     Or  how  can  they  look  for  ultimate 


103  INFANT  BAPTISM  A 

triumph  in  the  conflict  with  infidelity,  if  they 
cherish  among  themselves  a  traitor,  that,  fast 
as  they  can  drive  one  army  from  the  field, 
will  bring  a  fresh  one  into  it  ?  This  is  but  the 
labor  of  Sisyphus  repeated.  The  stone  of 
victory,  rolled  almost  to  the  mountain-top, 
■will  rebound  and  fall  back  into  the  abyss. 
Such  efforts,  to  be  successful,  must  begin  at 
the  foundation.  The  axe  must  be  laid  at  the 
root.  Infant  Baptism — that  old  Upas  tree, 
which,  with  its  death-distilling  branches,  Un- 
godly Church-Membership,  State-Religions, 
Prelacy,  Popery,  and  Scepticism,  has  for  four- 
teen centuries  shaded  and  blasted  the  world — 
must  come  down,  before  the  pure  light  of 
Heaven,  and  the  sweet  breath  of  Life,  can  cir- 
culate freely  over  the  expanse  of  our  dark- 
ened and  diseased  humanity. 

How  momentous  is  the  part  assigned  to 
those  who  hold  the  ordinances  of  Christ  as  He 
delivered  them  !  We  cannot  doubt  that  it  is 
the  purpose  of  God  to  introduce,  through 
their  instrumentality,  that  general  return  to 
primitive  order,  which  is  to  herald  the  crown- 
ing conquests  of  the  Gospel.  From  the  time 
of  the  first  departure  from  apostolical  purity, 


PART  AND  PILLAR  OF  POPERY.  109 

even  down  through  all  the  darkest  eras  of  the 
subsequent  Apostacy,  there  has  always  been 
a  succession  of  men,  who,  abjuring  all  commu- 
nion with  Rome,  have,  under  different  names, 
and  in  different  countries,  kept  the  word 
and  the  testimony  of  Jesus.  And  the  rapid 
growth,  in  our  own  day,  of  the  true  descend- 
ants of  these  ancient  witnesses,  their  advanced 
position,  their  disciplined  array,  their  increas- 
ing influence  and  resources,  furnish  significant 
indications,  that  their  great  work  is  soon  to  be 
achieved.  What  a  solemn  mission  is  theirs  ! 
How  do  the  coming  destinies  of  the  church 
and  of  the  world  hang  upon  it !  Their  prin- 
ciples must  prevail,  or  tradition,  imposture, 
and  infidelity  will  still  hold  the  field.  Their 
banner  must  wave  from  every  tower  and  bat- 
tlement of  Zion,  or  final  victory  can  never  be 
hers.  May  "the  Captain  of  Salvation"  give 
them  grace  to  fulfill  the  trust  committed  to 
their  hands. 


10 


HO  INFANT  BAPTISM  A 


CHAPTER    V. 

CERTAIN  EXTINCTION  OF  INFANT  BAPTISM. 

It  is  true,  that  from  the  fifth  century  until 
now,  this  pernicious  error  has  held  sway  over 
the  greater  part  of  those  who  have  borne  the 
Christian  name ;  bringing  with  it  all  the  cor- 
ruptions of  doctrine  and  of  discipline  which 
inevitably  follow  in  its  train.  It  is  also  true, 
that,  though  its  power  has  been  checked,  and 
its  hold  on  the  public  mind  weakened,  it  is 
still  widely  prevalent ;  substituting,  through- 
out whole  nations,  a  mere  nominal  Christianity 
for  the  pure  and  life-living  Gospel;  propping 
up  time-worn  abuses  ;  and  retarding  the  moral 
emancipation  of  the  world.  Nevertheless,  I 
firmly  believe  that  the  time  is  hastening  on, 
when,  strongly  intrenched  as  it  now  is  in  the 
superstitious  veneration  of  the  masses,  and 
upheld,  from  interested  motives,  by  lordly 
priests  and  bloated  hierarchies,  it  shall  be  ut- 


PART  AKD  PILLAR  OF  POPERY.  Ill 

terly  and  forever  extirpated.  The  Scriptures 
teem  with  the  delightful  announcement,  that  a 
day  shall  yet  dawn  on  the  earth,  when  Chris- 
tianity shall  not  only  universally  prevail,  but 
shall  be  wholly  freed  from  the  numerous  per- 
versions by  which  its  energies  have  been  im- 
paired, and  its  beauty  disfigured.  In  that 
predicted  period,  "the  Man  of  Sin"  shall  be 
destroyed,  and  every  trace  and  relic  of  his 
influence  be  swept  away.  The  doctrines  of 
the  Gospel  will  shine  out  in  their  primal  lustre, 
and  its  ordinances  again  be  restored  to  apos- 
tolical purity  and  simplicity.  Christ  "  shall 
be  King  over  all  the  earth,  and  there  shall  be 
one  Lord,  and  His  name  one."1  In  other 
words,  "one  Lord,  one  Faith,  one  Baptism," 
shall  be  acknowledged  and  received  by  all 
Christians :  and  there  shall  be  a  universal 
agreement  with  respect  both  to  the  inward 
essence  and  the  outward  institutions  of  the 
Gospel.  In  this  glorious  reign  of  truth  and 
holiness — the  "latter  day,"  which  inspiration 
promises,  and  for  which  every  pious  heart 
must  fervently  long — infant  baptism  will  no 

1  Zecli.  xiv.  9. 


1 12  IXFAXT  BAPTISM  A 

more  be  practiced,  but  will  vanish  and  be  for- 
gotten, as  the  shadows  of  the  morning  twi- 
light melt  before  the  risen  sun.  This  I  most 
confidently  believe.  As  firmly  as  I  believe 
that  the  Gospel  shall  yet  subdue  the  world,  so' 
firmly  do  I  believe  that,  in  the  consummation 
of  its  triumphs,  infant  baptism,  with  every 
other  antichristian  custom,  will  be  driven  out 
of  the  church,  and  be  cast  into  the  same  bot- 
tomless pit  with  the  Beast  and  the  false  pro- 
phet. The  reasons  on  which  my  belief  is 
founded,  are  partially  implied  in  the  state- 
ments above  made.  It  may  be  desirable  how- 
ever, that  I  should  adduce  them  more  particu- 
larly, and  at  greater  length. 

I  believe  this,  because,  in  the  time  referred 
to,  churches  will  be  formed  on  the  same  model 
with  those  in  the  days  of  the  Apostles.  That 
this  will  be  the  case,  is  clearly  manifest  from 
the  teachings  of  prophecy.  "  And  I  will  turn 
my  hand  upon  thee,  and  purely  purge  away 
thy  dross,  and  take  away  all  thy  tin ;  and  I 
will  restore  thy  judges  as  at  the  first,  and  thy 
counsellors  as  at  the  beginning ;  afterward 
thou  shalt  be  called,  The  City  of  Righteous- 


PART  AXD  PILLAR  OF  POPERY.  113 

ness."1  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  Behold,  I  will 
bring  again  the  captivity  of  Jacob's  tents, 
and  have  mercy  on  his  dwelling  places ;  and 
the  city  shall  be  builded  upon  her  own  heap, 
and  the  palace  shall  remain  after  the  manner 
thereof.  Their  children  also  shall  be  as  afore- 
time, and  their  congregation  shall  be  estab- 
lished before  me."3  "And  the  temple  of  God 
was  opened  in  heaven,  and  there  was  seen  in 
His  temple  the  ark  of  His  testament."3  Xow 
the  apostolical  churches  contained  only  bap- 
tized believers,  or  such  persons,  and  such 
alone,  as  had  by  baptism  made  a  public  pro- 
fession of  their  faith.  The  church  at  Jerusa- 
lem— the  first  Christian  Church  that  was  in- 
stituted— consisted  of  the  Apostles  and  others 
who  had  been  converted  and  baptized  during 
the  ministry  of  our  Lord ;  and  then  of  those 
who,  on  the  day  of  Pentecost  and  subsequently 
received  the  truth,  and  were  added  by  baptism, 
to  the  company  of  the  disciples.4  The  next 
Christian  Church  was  at  Samaria;  and  this 
was  composed  of  men  and  women,  who  were 
baptized  on  believing  the  Gospel  preached  by 

1  Isa  i.  25,  26  2  Jer.  xxx.  18,  20.  3  Rev.  xi.  19. 

4  Acts  ii.  41 :  iv.  4. 
10* 


114  IXFAXT  BAPTISM  A 

Philip.1  The  Church  at  Corinth  consisted  of 
those  who,  having  heard  the  word  from  the 
lips  of  Paul,  believed  and  were  baptized.3  Of 
similar  converts  were  the  Churches  at  Rome, 
Philippi,  and  Colosse  composed.  In  all  the 
New  Testament,  not  a  single  instance  of  in- 
fant baptism  nor  of  infant  membership  is  re- 
corded, or  even  intimated.  Nor  is  there  the 
slightest  hint  that  any  were  ever  received  into 
churches,  who  had  not  been  baptized  on  a 
personal  profession  of  their  faith.  If  there- 
fore, such  was  the  apostolical  constitution  of 
the  Church  ;  and  if,  in  the  latter  day,  this 
constitution  is  to  be  restored ;  it  follows  that 
infant  baptism  will  then  be  no  more  practiced. 
I  believe  this,  because  the  ordinances  of  the 
Gospel  will  then  be  administered  as  they  were 
originally  appointed,  free  from  all  the  present 
intermixtures  of  superstition  and  corruption. 
Such  I  consider  to  be  the  meaning  of  that 
vision  of  the  Apocalypse — the  opening  of  the 
temple  of  G-od  in  Heaven* — seen  by  St.  John 
immediately  after  the  sounding  of  the  seventh 
trumpet.     I  interpet  this  as  a  symbolical  an- 

1  Acts  viii.  12.  2Acts  xviii.  8. 

3  Rev.  xi.  19 :  xv.  5. 


PART  AXD  PILLAR  OF  POPERY.  115 

nounceinent  of  the  restoration  of  the  worship, 
doctrines,  discipline,  and  ordinances  of  the  Gos- 
pel to  their  free  use,  and  to  their  primitive 
purity.  In  the  coming  era  of  scriptural  light 
and  knowledge,  "  the  tahernacle  of  the  testi- 
mony"— the  pure  truth  of  God — so  long  shut 
up  by  ecclesiastical  tyranny,  or  hidden  behind 
the  veil  of  perversions  and  false  glosses,  will 
be  thrown  wide  open,  revealing  its  treasures 
to  every  eye,  and  filling  every  mind  with  its 
heavenly  radiance.  In  this  broad  and  bright 
illumination,  every  form  of  error  will  shrink 
away,  and  be  annihilated.  The  teachings  of 
the  Gospel  will  be  rightly  understood,  and 
cordially  embraced.  The  Lord's  supper  will  be 
administered,  clear  of  all  the  corruptions  and 
ceremonies,  introduced  into  it  by  Papists, 
and  retained  by  Protestants.  In  like  manner, 
the  ordinance  of  baptism  will  be  purified  and 
brought  back  to  the  scriptural  model.  In  the 
first  ages  of  Christianity,  it  was  administered 
to  believers  alone,  and  by  immersion  only. 
So  will  it  be  in  the  future  age  of  renovation. 
Of  course,  then,  infant  sprinkling  will  be  prac- 
ticed no  more. 

I  believe  this,  because  Christ  will  then  be 


116  INFANT  BAPTISM  A 

King  over  all  the  earth  in  a  spiritual  sense ; 
the  one  Lord  -whose  commands  -will  be  obeyed 
with  great  precision  and  exactness,  as  they  are 
made  known  in  His  Word.  Among  the  com- 
mands which  He  has  given,  baptism  is  included  ; 
and  as  he  will  be  acknowledged  the  one  Lord 
and  Head  of  the  Church, — and  not  the  Pope, 
whose  power  will  then  be  ended — there  will 
be  one  Baptism,  which  will  be  administered  to 
one  class  of  subjects  only,  and  by  immersion 
only — the  one  mode  which  He  has  ordained  in 
His  statutes,  and  confirmed  by  his  example. 
Infant  sprinkling,  therefore,  will  be  practiced 
no  more. 

I  believe  this,  because,  in  the  advancing 
period  of  Zion's  glory,  the  name  of  Christ, 
that  is,  His  religion,  will  be  one  and  the  same 
in  every  part  of  the  world.  In  spirit,  in  doc- 
trine, in  form,  it  will  be  precisely  what  it  was 
when  it  came,  all  stainless  and  living,  from  its 
Divine  Founder.  Now  it  appears  various,  dis- 
cordant, even  contradictory,  owing  to  the  dif- 
ferent manner  in  which  it  is  professed  and 
exhibited.  But  in  the  latter  day,  it  will  be 
uniform  and  harmonious  in  all  its  branches,  as 
embraced,  felt  and  manifested  by  all  Christians. 


PART  AXD  PILLAR  OF  POPERY.  117 

And  as  baptism  is  a  part  of  Christ's  religion, 
this  also  will  be  observed  in  a  uniform  manner 
by  all  who  bear  Christ's  name.  For  since 
the  name  of  Christ,  or  the  Christian  religion 
in  all  its  parts,  will  be  the  same  in  ail  who  pro- 
fess it ;  I,  therefore,  am  firmly  persuaded,  that 
baptism  will  be  practiced  alike  by  all,  accord- 
ing to  its  primitive  institution ;  and,  ■  conse- 
quently, that  infant  sprinkling  will  be  forever 
abolished. 

I  believe  this,  because,  in  the  latter  day, 
"  the  watchmen  of  Zion  will  see  eye  to  eye.''1 
As  the  appointed  teachers  of  Christianity  will 
be  of  one  mind,  with  respect  both  to  its  doc- 
trines and  its  duties,  and  will  alike  preach  the 
one,  and  practice  the  other  ;  so  the  people,  un- 
der their  ministrations,  will  be  all  of  the  same 
belief;  receiving  the  truths  of  the  Gospel  in 
the  love  of  them,  and  submitting  to  its  pre- 
cepts and  institutions,  without  any  difference 
among  themselves,  and  without  any  variation 
from  the  word  of  God.  There  will  then  no 
longer  be  any  strife  about  baptism.  All  will 
agree,  that  its  proper  subjects  are  believers, 
and  its  right  mode  immersion.     Thus   infant 

1  Isa.  lii.  8. 


118  INFANT  BAPTISM  A 

sprinkling  will  no  more  be  contended  for ;  and 
Christians  will  in  all  things  serve  the  Lord  with 
one  consent,1 

Another  reason  why  I  firmly  believe  that 
infant  baptism  will  hereafter  entirely  cease,  is, 
because  Antichrist  will  be  utterly  consumed 
by  the  Spirit  of  Christ's  mouth,  and  with  the 
brightness  of  his  coming.3  In  other  words, 
Romanism,  with  all  kindred  systems  of  false- 
hood and  impiety,  will  be  annihilated  by  the 
pure  and  powerful  preaching  of  the  Gospel, 
when  Christ  shall  come  to  take  to  Himself 
His  power,  and  reign  spiritually  in  the 
churches,  in  a  manner  more  glorious  than  He 
has  ever  yet  done.  Then  all  antichristian 
doctrines  and  practices  will  be  entirely  abol- 
ished, even  the  whole  body  of  antichristian 
worship.  Not  a  limb  of  Antichrist  shall  re- 
main, but  all  be  consumed.  Now  as  I  fully 
believe,  and  think  it  has  been  clearly  shown, 
that  infant  baptism  is  a  part  and  pillar  of 
Popery,  a  limb  of  Antichrist,  a  branch  of  su- 
perstition and  will-worship,  introduced  by  the 
Man  of  Sin, — when  he  shall  be  destroyed,  this 
shall  be  destroyed  with  him. 

1  Zep.  iii.  9.         2  2  Thess.  ii.  8. 


PART  AND  PILLAR  OF  POPERY.  119 

Nor  am  I  shaken  in  this  belief  by  the  fact, 
that,  in  various  ages,  wise  and  good  men  have 
embraced  and  practiced  infant  baptism.  It  is 
a  part  of  "  the  wood,  hay,  and  stubble,"  laid 
by  them  upon  the  foundation.  It  is  one  of 
those  works  of  theirs — the  product  of  human 
device  and  invention — which  the  bright  day 
of  the  Gospel  shall  declare  to  be  a  falsehood ; 
and  which  the  fire  of  the  word  will  try,  burn 
up,  and  consume,  though  they  themselves 
shall  be  saved.  And,  therefore,  being  utterly 
consumed,  it  shall  no  more  appear  in  the 
world. 

When  the  angel,  foretold  in  the  Apocalypse, 
shall  descend  from  heaven  with  great  power, 
to  proclaim  the  fall  of  spiritual  Babylon,  the 
whole  earth  shall  be  lightened  with  his  glory.1 
Before  the  blazing  splendor  of  truth,  that  will 
surround  his  path,  all  darkness  shall  be  re- 
moved, and  all  works  of  darkness  be  made 
manifest  and  cast  off — among  which  infant 
baptism  is  one.  Then  shall  the  earth  be  full 
of  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord,  as  the  waters 
cover  the  sea.3  That  is,  the  knowledge  of  the 
word,  ways,  worship,   truths,  and  ordinances 

iRev.  xriii.  1,  2.  2Isa.  xi.  9. 


120  INFANT  BAPTISM  A 

of  God,  shall  universally  prevail ;  and  all  ig- 
norance, misconception,  or  abuse  of  them  be 
banished  forever.  The  ordinance  of  baptism 
will  then  be  disentangled  from  the  mass  of  tra- 
ditions which  have  so  long  encumbered  it,  and 
appear  once  more  in  its  native  lustre.  It  will 
be  observed  in  strict  accordance  with  its  origi- 
nal mode  and  design,  and  every  corruption 
of  it  be  scrupulously  rejected.  Hence,  as 
infant  baptism  is  such  a  corruption,  it  will, 
in  that  day,  be  abhorred  and  cast  away. 

Since  we  are  taught  in  Scripture,  that  the 
ordinances  of  baptism  and  the  Lord's  supper 
are  to  continue  until  the  coming  of  Christ  at 
the  end  of  the  world;1  and  since  these  or- 
dinances have  been  greatly  and  very  generally 
corrupted  ;  it  is  not  reasonable  to  suppose  that 
their  Divine  Author  will  allow  them  always  to 
remain  in  this  deformed  and  vitiated  state ; 
but  that  in  the  spiritual  reign  of  Christ — the 
blissful  period  that  is  to  usher  in  His  final  Ad- 
vent,— every  perversion  which  has  been  made 
of  their  intent,  and  every  addition  or  curtail- 
ment which  has  marred  their  inspired  model, 
will  be  scattered,  like  chaff,  before  the  might 

1  Mutt,  xxviii.  19,  20;  1  Cor.  xi.  26. 


PART  AND  PILLAR  OF  POPERY.  121 

of  the  triumphant  Gospel.  And  as  in  relation 
to  baptism,  there  must  be,  on  the  one  side  or 
the  other,  a  mistake  with  respect  both  to  its 
subjects  and  its  mode  ;  and  as  I  am  thoroughly 
persuaded  that  this  mistake  exists  on  the  side 
of  the  Pedobaptists  ;  so  I  as  firmly  believe, 
for  the  reason  given,  that  it  will  be  removed, 
and  infant  sprinkling  be  no  more  used. 

The  time  when  this  happy  consummation  will 
take  place,  is  that  predicted  in  the  message  to 
the  church  at  Philadelphia,1  whose  state  I  re- 
gard as  emblematical  of  the  spiritual  reign  of 
Christ  in  the  latter  day.  In  this  conclusion  I 
am  confirmed  by  the  character  given  of  that 
church  and  of  its  members.  It  is  described 
as  having  kept  the  word  of  Christ ;  and  this, 
I  conceive,  prefigures  the  conduct  of  Chris- 
tians in  the  millenial  age  ;  when  not  only  will 
the  doctrines  of  the  Gospel  be  purely  preached 
and  openly  professed,  but  its  ordinances  also, 
baptism  and  the  Lord's  supper,  which, — espe- 
cially baptism, — have  been  sadly  corrupted  in 
almost  all  former  periods  except  the  apostolic, 
will  be  restored  to  their  pristine  purity  and 
glory.     Hence  it  is  promised  to  this  church, 

1  Pvev.  iii.  7-12. 


122  IXFAXT  BAPTISM  A 

and  through  it  to  the  churches  of  that  future  era 
which  it  represents,  that  because  it  had  truly 
and  faithfully  kept  the  word  of  Christ's  pa- 
tience, it  should  be  delivered  from  the  hour  of 
temptation  which  should  come  upon  all  the 
earth.  It  is  also  exhorted  to  hold  fast  what  it 
had,  and  to  maintain  both  doctrines  and  ordi- 
nances as  they  were  delivered  by  Christ  and 
his  Apostles,  and  as  it  now  held  them  in  their 
primitive  simplicity  and  incorruptness.* 

1  This  interpretation  of  the  learned  author  will  not 
hear  the  test  of  sober  criticism.  The  Apostle  John  was 
instructed  by  our  Lord  to  address  a  message  to  the 
church  in  Philadelphia — a  church  existing  in  his  own 
time,  and  in  the  region  which  had  been  the  principal  scene 
of  his  own  labors.  In  this  message,  allusion  is  made  to 
the  state  and  character  of  the  church,  and  to  recent 
events  in  its  history.  Its  steadfastness  and  fidelity  are 
commended ;  and  a  promise  is  given  to  it  of  triumph  over 
the  Judaical  party,  by  whose  factious  conduct  its  peace, 
in  common  with  that  of  all  the  early  churches,  had  been 
greatly  disturbed.  Then  follows  the  animating  assurance 
of  preservation  in  the  approaching  hour  of  temptation, 
which  should  come  upon  all  the  world ;  by  which  is  un- 
doubtedly meant  one  of  those  severe  and  general  perse- 
cutions which  took  place  under  the  Roman  emperors. 
Now  that  there  is  much  in  this  message  instructive  and 
profitable  to  Christians  in  all  ages,  as  well  as  to  those  to 
whom  it  was  primarily  directed,  none  will  deny.    But  to 


PART  AND   PILLAR  OF  POPERY.  123 

These  are  the  principal  reasons  why  I  be- 
lieve, with  a  strong  and  unwavering  faith,  that 
the  time  is  coming,  and  I  trust  is  not  far  off, 
when  infant  baptism,  with  its  numerous  pro- 
geny of  baleful  influences  and  results,  will  be 
banished  from  the  earth,  no  more  to  pollute 
the  fair  face  of  Christianity,  and  no  more  to 
deceive  the  souls  of  men. 

In  our  own  times,  a  great  and  just  alarm  is 
felt  at  the  rapid  increase  of  Popery,  and  the 
spread  of  principles  kindred  with  it,  and  tend- 
ing to  its  propagation.  The  Beast  seems  reco- 
vering from  his  deadly  wound,1  and  with  invi- 
gorated energies,  is  preparing  for  a  last  effort 

convert  it  into  a  prophecy,  and  make  it,  in  fact,  a  sym- 
bol of  one  of  the  grand  epochs  in  the  unfolding  destinies 
of  the  Gospel, — when  not  the  slightest  hint  of  such  an 
application  is  contained  in  the  message  itself, — is  a 
mode  of  expounding  Scripture  altogether  arbitrary  and 
fanciful.  It  is  unquestionably  true,  that  the  universal 
prevalence  of  Christianity  is  the  subject  of  numerous 
scriptural  predictions ;  and  that,  in  the  period  of  their 
fulfilment,  the  doctrines  and  institutions  of  the  Gospel 
will  be  purely  held  and  kept.  But  it  is  not  true  that  the 
state  of  the  Philadelphian  Church  was  designed  by 
the  Holy  Spirit  to  be  a  prophetic  emblem  of  that 
period. — Ed. 

1  Rev.  xiii.  3,  12. 


124  INFANT    BAPTISM  A 

to  regain  the  mastery  of  the  world;  while  the 
numberless  bands  of  his  auxiliaries  and  sate- 
lites — Baptismal  Regeneration,  Sacramental 
Efficacy,  Formalism,  Mysticism,  and  Political 
Intrigue — in  diverse  array,  and  with  motley, 
banners,  are  mustering,  thick  and  fast,  to  the 
onset.  Every  thing  betokens  the  coming  on 
of  the  final  struggle  between  the  powers  of 
Light  and  of  Darkness.  This  combat  Protest- 
antism is  in  no  condition  to  meet  successfully. 
By  retaining  Infant  Baptism,  she  keeps  in  her 
very  citadel  the  chief  supporter  and  prime 
minister  of  the  foe ;  insidiously  sapping  her 
strength,  betr.aying  her  defences,  spiking  her 
artillery,  and  waiting  but  for  a  fitting  moment 
to  lay  her,  prostrate  and  helpless,  at  the  feet 
of  her  victorious  enemy.  Down  with  the  trai- 
tor! Tear  off  his  disguise,  and  lay  bare  be- 
neath it  the  uniform  of  the  Papacy !  Wash  his 
painted  face,  and  read  on  his  brow  "the  mark 
of  the  Beast."  Thus  detected  and  renounced, 
send  him  back  to  the  camp  of  Antichrist, 
where  he  belongs.  Then,  and  not  till  then, 
may  the  Protestant  host,  united  under  the 
broad  standard  of  "  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus," 
formed  in  Gospel  order,  and  moving  on  to  the 


PART  AND  PILLAR  OF  POPERY.  125 

exulting  war-cry,  "  One  Lord,  one  Faith,  one 
Baptism,"  hope  to  scatter  the  forces  of  Super- 
stition and  Falsehood,  and  bear  the  uplifted 
ensign  of  Salvation  in  triumph  over  the  world. 


THE    END 


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COMPLETE    WORKS    OF    ANDREW    FULLER. 
THREE    VOLUMES.    OCTAVO. 

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BAPTISM    IN    ITS    MODE    AND    SUBJECTS 

BY    ALEXANDER    CARSON. 

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HISTORY     OF     BAPTISM. 

BY    I8AAC    T.     H1NTON. 

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INFANT    BAPTISM. 

The  Scriptural  and  Historical  Arguments  for  Tnfr.nt 
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AMERICAN  BAPTIST  PUBLICATION  SOC1KTT. 
THE 

DEACONSHIP 

BY 

R.  B.  C.  HOWELL,  D.D. 


From  the  "  Christian  Review,"  Rev.  S.  F.  Smith,  Editor. 
"  This  is  the  only  treatise  or  extended  discussion  on  the 
office  of  Deacons,  which  we  have  ever  seen.  The  subject 
has  occasionally  called  forth  an  essay  at  a  minister's 
meeting,  which  has  been  read,  approved,  and  laid  aside  ; 
but  nothing  of  any  importance  has  before  found  its  way 
to  the  press.  The  treatise  of  Dr.  Howell  is  calm,  clear, 
full,  and  Scriptural.  In  nine  brief  chapters,  it  exhibits  the 
origin  and  nature  of  the  Deacon's  office,  the  qualifications 
for  the  office,  the  election  and  ordination  of  deacons,  their 
general  and  specific  duties  ;  the  means  of  creating  and  sus- 
taining the  necessary  revenues  in  the  church,  deaconesses, 
the  duty  of  the  churches  and  the  ministry  to  co-operate 
with  the  deacons,  and  the  importance  of  faithfulness  on 
the  part  of  the  latter.  The  chapter  on  the  revenues  of 
churches  seems  to  us  to  have  but  a  loose  connection  with 
the  subject  under  discussion  ;  and  although  its  principles 
may  be  sound,  we  doubt  if  it  had  not  better  been  reserved 
for  another  occasion.  Dr.  H.  takes  the  ground  that  the 
office  of  deacons  is  perpetual,  and  that  their  calling  is  to 
take  care  of  all  the  temporalities  of  the  church.  Hence 
he  assigns  to  them  not  only  the  customary  duties  of  dea- 
cons, but  also,  ex-officiis,  the  duties  which  in  New  England 
are  commonly  devolved  on  a  Society's  Committee  and 
Treasurer.  He  recommends  that  a  person  elected  by  the 
church  to  the  office  of  deacon  should  be  presented  by  the 
church  to  the  pastor,  who  is  to  pray  for  and  afterwards 
to  lay  his  hands  upon  him.  He  suggests  that  in  all  well 
egulated  Baptist  churches,  there  are  female  members  who 


AMERICA*   BAPTIST  PUBLICATION   SOCIETY. 

are,  though  not  by  express  designation,  deaconesses;  that 
they  are  needed  and  useful  in  all  countries,  and  in  oriental 
ones,  indispensable.  Our  modern  churches  have  retained 
the  office  without  the  name.  The  volume  is  a  sound  and 
sober  exhibition  of  opinions  which  we  believe  are,«on  the 
whole,  capable  of  being  sustained  by  Scripture, — well 
arranged  and  well  expressed.  We  hope  the  little  book 
will  find  a  wide  circulation,  and  do  good  in  promoting 
among  the  churches  uniformity,  order  and  pirty." 


From  the  "  Baptist  Memorial,"  Rev.  Dr.  Babcock,  Editor. 
"  Pastors  and  Deacons  should  both  study  this  treatise. " 


From  the  Rev.  J.  Newton  Brown,  Editor  of  the  "  Encyclo- 
pedia of  Religious  Knowledge." 
"  Several  years  ago,  I  was  led  to  examine  the  subject 
of  the  Deaconship  with  special  care,  and  regretted  that 
there  was  nothing  in  the  shape  of  a  treatise  upon  it  at  all 
satisfactory.  I  then  embodied  my  inquiries  in  the  form 
of  a  sermon,  and  delivered  it  on  two  occasions,  by  request, 
at  the  ordination  of  Deacons.  The  sermon  was  so  much 
approved  as  to  be  solicited  for  tne  press  ;  but  I  never  pub- 
lished it.  I  mention  the  fact  to  show  you  the  preparation 
of  my  mind  for  examining  with  care  the  work  of  Dr. 
Howell ;  and  I  rejoice  to  say  that  I  found  the  subject 
treated  by  him  so  perfectly  to  my  satisfaction,  that  I  shall 
never  be  tempted  again  to  give  my  discourse  to  the  press. 
I  fervently  bless  the  Head  of  the  Church  for  directing  Dr. 
Howell's  attention  to  the  subject.  I  thank  him,  and  I  thank 
the  American  Baptist  Publication  Society,  for  a  work  on 
the  office  of  Deacons,  which  I  trust  is  destined  to  form  an 
era  in  our  churches,  of  clear,  definite,  settled,  scriptural 
views  and  practice.  How  really  astonishing  it  is  to  a  re- 
aecang  mind,  that  while  so  many  hundreds  of  volumes 
have  been  written  on  the  Pastoral  office,  and  with  such  excel- 
lent effect,  we  have  had  absolutely  nothing  before,  worthy 
to  be  called  a  treatise  on  the  office  of  Deacon — though 
the  latter  is  of  equ-ally  Divine  Institution  and  Authority— 
and  scarcely  inferior  in  importance,  all  things  considered, 
to  the  well-being  and  efficiency  of  a  church  of  Christ. 
Such  a  work  is  truly  an  augury  of  better  times." 


